


RAVENCLAW

by wolfstarlights



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drarry, M/M, Original Character(s), Ravenclaw, Ravenclaw Draco Malfoy, Ravenclaw Harry Potter, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 17:46:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 43,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22347415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfstarlights/pseuds/wolfstarlights
Summary: The butterfly effect. You change one tiny thing and before you notice it, it changes everything. The sorting hat shouting “RAVENCLAW” for both Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy is the set-off. Everything else goes from there.Let’s just say neither Harry nor Draco are very pleased with the situation.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Comments: 82
Kudos: 210





	1. The Sorting

**Author's Note:**

> I’m publishing this on Instagram and Wattpad as well so if you read it on one of those platforms under the exact same account name, that’s me. I’m not stealing it. This work is still in progress and has a long way ahead to being finished but I definitely think it’ll be worth it, sticking around. I hope I can take a lot of you onto this journey with me. Feedback is always appreciated and I can very well take constructive criticism so comments are really welcome. Okay, I’ll stop holding you up any longer. Enjoy reading!

"RAVENCLAW!"

\- as the sorting hat shouted this out loud, Draco's face went blank in shock.  
Nononononono! This couldn't be happening. It was his first day at Hogwarts and everything went wrong already. 

First Harry Potter didn't want to be his friend and now this. He belonged to Slytherin! His whole family had always been in Slytherin. This was so so bad!  
His father was going to kill him. His only child! A Ravenclaw?!  
There's no chance his father would accept such a shame. That's what Draco was. A shame for his whole bloodline!  
And his friends. All people he had known before....they had all been sorted into Slytherin....or were at least going to be. He would be all alone. 

He gulped. Then he took the hat off with trembling hands and placed it back on the chair.  
_You're a Malfoy!_  
He repeated his fathers words in his mind,  
_Malfoys never show fear!_  
And with his head raised he made his way to the Ravenclaw table.  
And he was just too aware of the angry and confused glares from the Slytherin table and from his childhood friends who weren't sorted yet.  
Draco didn't judge them. If he could, he would do the same thing right now. 

Being sorted into Ravenclaw was probably the worst thing that will ever happen to him!

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Ron gave Harry a gloating grin.  
Wow.  
After the hat's song and all Draco had bragged about, Harry had been so sure that Malfoy was the most slytherin boy in this school. What on earth would make the sorting hat put this guy into Ravenclaw? 

"Potter, Harry!"

McGonagall's voice brought him back to reality and he made his way up to the chair. With every step the whispers around him grew louder and he got more nervous.  
He was glad when the hat fell over his eyes and blocked his view.  
All these glances on him would have made him go crazy.  
Suddenly there was a low voice talking inside his head.

"Hmmm....very brave....also ambitious....one could find a true friend in you....and you are very eager to learn....very intelligent, in plenty ways....but where to put you? You would fit into all of them. Maybe not Hufflepuff. And it probably wouldn't be wise to put you into Slytherin. Too much pride and prejudice. No, you're full of love. But will it be Ravenclaw or Gryffindor?"

Harry didn't know, what to think of this.  
Both houses seemed to be good choices to him. But he wouldn't really want to spend all his time with this Malfoy guy. He didn't seem very nice. Neither at Madam Malkin's nor on the train.  
And Ron had told him about all his older brothers being sorted into Gryffindor, so there was a good chance he would already have a friend there.  
To Harry's regrets the hat's next words were:

"It's a wise choice to want friends around you but it's not wise to choose your friends before you know them. You've got a lot potential but you may only gain wisdom - which you will most definitely need - in....RAVENCLAW!"

When he took the hat off he was confused. What did it want to tell him?  
That Ron wouldn't be a good friend?  
Harry didn't get a chance to continue this thought because as soon as he reached the Ravenclaw table he was besieged by about a dozen boys and girls of different age shaking his hands. All of whom were cheering and clapping.  
He hadn't done anything to deserve so much attention. But soon the happy atmosphere took onto him and he sat down on an empty chair (as far away from Malfoy as possible) with a huge grin on his face. 

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 

Five minutes ago Draco would've thought that this day couldn't get any worse. Well, of course fate had to prove him wrong again. Now he was stuck up with Harry Bloody Potter, who had rejected his friendship-offer just an hour ago, for seven whole years. He was silent all the remaining time of the sorting (the stupid Weasley boy was Griffindor and Pansy and Blaise had been sorted into Slytherin, of course) and throughout the whole dinner.  
Then this Clearwater prefect-girl lead the Ravenclaw first years to their rooms. They went up a lot of stairs and Draco tried not to look impressed by them moving around.  
After all, he'd known about that!  
Everything here just seemed to be so huge and mysterious. They also used some secret passageways.  
He couldn't help but stare in awe.  
Therefore he didn't realize when the others had stopped walking and bumped right into Harry's back.  
Nonononono SHIT! Okay, act cool! Say something!

"Watch your way, Potter!"

The black haired boy gave him a bewildered look before turning his attention back to Clearwater.  
Gosh, this must have sounded so silly. 

Penelope started to explain, how to enter the common room.

"So, the door knocker is going to ask you a riddle every time you wish to enter. You need to answer it correctly before the door opens. Watch!"

The door knocker lyrically recited a few lines but Draco wasn't listening any longer.  
He just took a look around and meanwhile located himself in the west tower.  
He could get a glimpse of the lake reflecting the moonlight through a window nearby. 

The other first years started moving again and Draco entered the common room right behind them.  
He found himself in an airy and noble, circular room.  
The dome shaped ceiling loftily showed a night sky with gleaming stars and constellations and hovered high above their heads.  
Draco was stunned.  
He'd never seen something like this.  
Not even their library at Malfoy Manor was this tall.  
Amazed, he let his eyes glide over the stuffed bookshelves covering the walls and over a statue of Rowena Ravenclaw, who he'd recognised from an illustration in _'Hogwarts: A history!'_ His mother had bought it for him so he'd have something to read when he needed time on his own at school.  
His friends could sometimes be quite pesky, especially Crabbe and Goyle, who don't even know what you're talking about after you explained it twice.  
Anyway, he'd read it on the same day he'd gotten it because although both of his parents had attended this school and his friends would be there he'd been a bit afraid of coming here and wanted to know as much as possible about the castle so there wouldn't be any bad surprises.  
Further the room was filled with comfy looking armchairs, benches and sofas and inbetween desks, of course. Literally everything in here seemed to be blue. Next to a window to their left there was a small fireplace, crackling slightly.

Clearwater lead them over to the opposite end of the room and said:  
"To my right there are the girls' dormitories, the boy's are to my left. Just climb the stairs until you find the door with the number 1 on it. You will find your luggage placed next to your bed. Make yourself a home. Good night everyone." 

She turned around on her heel and disappeared on the right staircase.  
Except from Potter and him there were three other first year boys in Ravenclaw, one of whom he actually knew.  
Terry Boot was a pure blood and his family was known for being unprejudiced,  
neither towards mudbloods nor towards possible ex-deatheaters.  
As he didn't know the other two, he came to the conclusion that they weren't pure bloods. At least not part of the sacred 28 families. He gave Boot a short nod and then walked up the staircase, reaching their dorm first. 

These were going to be some _quite_ long seven years of school.


	2. Tales an Teachers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry tries to find a place for himself in this new world while Draco is suffering.

When Harry woke up he kept his eyes closed. Like this he could pretend that everything was true. 

At least until Aunt Petunia would knock on the door of his cupboard he could pretend to lie in a four poster with blue curtains inside a magical castle. 

_Knock-Knock._

Okay, there it was. Goodbye, wonderful dream. 

"Come on, first years! Get up! Breakfast in ten minutes!" 

Harry was confused.  
It was a male voice and it sounded nothing like Dudley or Uncle Vernon.  
And usually he would be the one, who had to prepare breakfast in the first place. 

Wait a minute!

_First years?_

He opened his eyes in a heartbeat and found himself in a big circular room with five beds.  
Four posters with sky blue silk eiderdowns and velvet blue curtains. 

It was real!

His face lit up in a smile an he jumped to his feet exitedly. Harry put on his robes in a rush and made his way down to the great hall. 

Smiling like a madman and also kind of nervous he crossed the entrance hall and walked through the huge doorway.  
It seemed like it wasn't forbidden to sit at different house's tables. Harry could make out some of the older Hufflepuffs sitting at the Ravenclaw table.  
So he decided to join the Gryffindors and looked out for a certain redhead.

And he found him! Actually he found four of them sitting together at the other end of the long wooden table. Harry identified them as Ron and his siblings, whom he remembered from the train station.  
Percy, the prefect -how could he not remember that he was a prefect as he made it as obvious as possible- and the twins, Fred and George. As the black haired boy walked by, he asked:

"Morning, mind if I sit here?"

"Hey, Harry! Remember my brothers?"

Harry took a seat next to Ron,

"Yeah, of course! Though I can't tell who of you is Fred and who George." 

The twins played exasperated looks. 

"How could you..." 

"Such ridiculous names..." 

"Of course we are not called like that!"

"This is Gred..." 

"...and this is Feorge."  
**_(A/N: I'm so sorry. The temptation was too strong. It won’t happen again, promise <3)_**

"Pleasure to meet you again!" 

They said the last sentence in perfect unison.  
Harry laughed.  
He'd taken a liking to them ever since he’d seen them pulling that prank on their mother.

"Nice to see you again. Too bad I haven‘t been sorted into Gryffindor. It would of been much fun. At least more fun than being stuck with Malfoy all year." 

"Poor boy", 

said Percy,

"Did you know his parents were said to be deatheaters? But his father works at the ministry and the Malfoys are a 'noble' family of purebloods, so they haven't been arrested." 

"What are deatheaters? Or purebloods?" 

The Weasley boys looked shocked.  
As if he, Harry, of all people should be the one person to know this stuff although nobody had ever told him about any of it.

"Deatheaters were You-Know-Who's followers, all of them are purebloods, people who's ancestors were all wizards, and they all were in Slytherin at school!", 

Ron went on explaining like it was the clearest thing to be. 

"This... kind of explains a lot!" 

Harry piled some toast and fried eggs on his plate when a tall boy came over to their place.  
He wore robes like everybody else. The yellow and black striped tie told them he was a Hufflepuff and he had a badge on his chest which said 'Headboy'. 

"Harry Potter?" 

Harry nodded while chewing down his bacon. The boy passed him a sheet of paper. 

"Your timetable. And the Weasley boys.... Here you go!" 

The Headboy continued his way across the hall and the boys scanned their timetables. 

"Hey, Ron. I think we have Charms and Astronomy together!" 

"Awesome! The Charms teacher is your head of house, isn't he?" 

"I think so. His name was Flitwick?" 

"Yeah." 

They finished their breakfast talking about teachers and subjects.  
It turned out Percy, Fred and George had some very interesting inside information,  
like the fact that McGonagall had the ability to turn into a cat. 

When all their plates were empty, Harry grabbed his bag and went to his first class:  
Defence against the Dark Arts with Professor Quirrell.  
He had seen him before at the leaky cauldron with Hagrid. Weird guy. He seemed so shy because he was always stammering but then he seemed to be around 30 years old and it just didn't fit into one picture

First Harry didn't know who to sit with, so he chose to sit down alone at a table in the second row.  
Soon the classroom was full with excited eleven-year-olds. 

When the last person entered the room there was only one seat left.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 

Draco really didn't want to go inside this room. 

All the noise. 

Why did this world hate him so much?  
He didn't do anything wrong, did he?  
He had spent breakfast with his friends from Slytherin. His best friend Pansy who he'd grown up with, agreed with his opinion on the sorting.  
Stupid old hat.  
At least it wasn't Hufflepuff.  
He couldn't even think about how that would've been.  
Surrounded by all cuddly and weak people.  
No, thanks!

The bell rang and Draco took a last deep breath before he stepped inside the classroom. 

The first thing he realized, was the lack of empty seats in the back row.  
One would think that Ravenclaws would try to sit in the front if possible.  
Eager to learn and everything. There was only one seat left, in the second line.  
Next to a certain black-haired and scar-faced boy.  
Draco felt a tugging in his stomach.  
Weird feeling.  
He shook it off and walked over. 

"Scarface",

he said with mockery in his voice before sitting down with a casual smirk planted on his lips. Potter didn't seem to be bothered by this nickname in any way at all.  
He just responded with an acknowledging 

"Malfoy!" 

and went back to unpacking his bag.  
Almost disappointed Draco followed suit and put his quill and a roll of parchment out on the desk. Then he leaned back into his chair cutting off all impressions, his gaze wandering off. 

"G-Good M-m-morning, f-first years." 

Draco rolled his eyes unnerved.  
He was pretty sure that this stuttering idiot would drive him insane within a week.  
And this turban was just ridiculous.  
Squirrel would probably fit better for his name! This guy was just as pathetic.  
Can't even speak normally. And this calls himself a wizard!

Why couldn't his parents just let him go to Durmstrang?  
Just because his mother said it was _'too far away'_.  
At least _they_ had proper teachers over there in Bulgaria and _they_ learned all the _cool_ magic. 

AND they had no houses, which would be a great plus. 

No Ravenclaw. 

No Gryffindor. 

No Hufflepuff. 

Just cool and serious magic to learn.  
His father had been right.  
This whole place was ridiculous.  
He'd been really looking forward to this!  
But then first the handshake thing and then the sorting and he was just full of it and it was just their first real day here.

He had so much stuff planned out to annoy all the Gryffindorks and to make fun of others and now he hadn't even got a chance to pull these pranks with his friends because...

"Hey....Hey, Malfoy! We're supposed to copy this!"

Words written with white chalk had appeared on the blackboard and Quirrell nervously tapped his foot standing next to it supervising their work.  
Sighing Draco dipped his quill into black ink and started writing.

_Main rules for magic._

He felt the strong urge to groan.  
He knew _exactly_ what to expect.

_Never attack others._

_Be careful what you aim at._

_Only defend yourself unless you don't have a choice._

_Only use spells you know you're able to perform correctly._

Bla bla bla.

As if anybody would ever stick to these stupid rules.  
Bored and annoyed ha glanced over to Potter's parchment.  
Merlin, where did this kid learn to write?  
How could anybody be able to read that?  
Draco chuckled and went back to copying.  
This boy got more and more interesting. 

But he was a git! 

A stupid git who turned down his friendship offer!

Just _what_ did he do wrong? 

His mood was low again and he finished the lines with glaring eyes, waiting to finally exit this ridiculous class and to meet up with his friends.  
And the time dragged forward slowly and got slower and slower until it seemed to stand still completely and Draco was to await a whole year of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Imma try to update as often as possible so that soon I’ll be able to post new chapters on here at the same time as I post them to Wattpad. I’m going for about 3 every day.


	3. The Howler

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: PTSD (kind of)

The rest of the schoolday was not quite eventful. Harry spent lunchtime with Ron and his brothers, Fred and George, introduced him to Lee Jordan, the guy who was said to have a giant tarantula on the train.   
Apparently they were the chaos-trio of the school. Pulling pranks day and night on everyone crossing their way. 

After Harry's first History of Magic lesson the same afternoon he could totally see why.   
One would think having a ghost-teacher is fun. Professor Binns looked like he'd never heard of the word 'fun' at all (let alone laughed).   
Some pranks would be great in this class. Just to get rid of this boredom and fatigue. There was probably a good chance that the dead teacher wouldn't even notice.   
When Harry left the classroom he was half asleep and if someone asked him about the topic of this class he'd have to make a guess. Luckily it had been their last one for this day. Though he was pretty exhausted after his first day of wizarding school, he found that it was far better than muggle school.   
Especially without Dudley making sure that it was going to be terrible.

Yawning he made his way back and entered the Ravenclaw common room behind his classmates. Most of them stayed down there until dinner but Harry just grabbed an interesting looking book and then headed straight for the dorm.   
He wanted to have some silence. Something very rare at the Dursleys, if not impossible.   
Well, the first years boy's dorm was definitely not silent at the moment. 

When he reached the door, he could hear a loud and strict man's voice resounding through the door.   
Curious, Harry walked in and froze as he saw a letter floating mid-air and raging at a completely shocked and helpless-looking Draco Malfoy. 

"I trusted - I relied on you. How dare you sullying our name like that. I thought you were my son-" 

"Lucius!" 

A woman's voice interrupted the rage but it didn't last for more than a second and the cold, emotionless voice carried on.

"You're the heir of the Malfoy fortune and you always seemed to be eager for it. I'm deeply disappointed! You're lucky it's Ravenclaw. I wouldn't tolerate a Gryffindor in my house. And a weak Hufflepuff would be inherited in an instant. -" 

"Lucius, this is our son you're talking about. Don't you dare say something like this again." 

This time the silence lasted longer. Harry heard a sob ripping through the loaded air and his eyes wandered from the floating letter to Malfoy.   
He looked small and desperate sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall next to his suitcase.   
His hands had destroyed his slicked back hair and were now hiding his pointy face. As Harry made a few steps towards him he could hear him whisper something over and over again. 

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to, I'm so sorry." 

"One last thing to say!" 

Draco and Harry both jumped when the letter raised its voice again. 

"I warn you to not step out of line again. You're lucky your mother convinced me not to punish you. I expect best grades from you and don't make friends with people from unworthy families." 

Suddenly the letter just ripped itself and tiny pieces of expensive and official looking paper sank to the floor. Harry felt at least as shocked as Malfoy looked like. When he found his voice again, Harry cleared his throat and asked:

"Are you alright?"

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 

Draco looked up. All this time he hadn't realized that someone else was in the dorm. 

"How long have you been standing there?" 

His eyes were full of panic. 

"I think I heard almost everything." 

And then: 

"Let me help you. I know how..." 

Draco's head burst.   
Who did Potter think he was to eavesdrop to this conversation (If you could call a Howler a conversation...).   
He had no right! This was private! 

"Leave me alone. You don't know anything. Of course, perfect Potter had to be nosy. No, keep your mouth shut. I don't need your opinion. And don't follow me!" 

With these words he ran downstairs and right through the door out of the common room. He ran and ran until he couldn't feel his feet anymore, hoping everything would fall behind like the stairs and doors and hallways he passed.  
But he didn't stop moving until he reached a locked door.   
His veins were still pumping in anger.   
Anger against Potter was better than guilt or hurt.  
Curious, he took a look around.   
There weren't many locked doors in Hogwarts.   
Suddenly it came to him.   
This door lead into the forbidden corridor. 

_Forbidden, hah!_

He was a Malfoy. Who was Dumbledore to tell him where to go and where not.  
A stupid door couldn't keep him from going his way.   
He searched his brain to the last corner but he didn't know any spells to enable him to open this door. In another wave of anger he just kicked against it with a loud _'thump'_. 

Nothing happened. 

He kicked again. And again.   
He punched it.   
He threw himself against it, just to let this anger out.   
He didn't decide to be a Ravenclaw!   
_Kick!_  
He didn't want to disappoint his family!  
 _Kick!_  
He wanted to be with his friends!   
_Kick!_  
His mother shouldn't need to stand up for him!  
 _Punch!_  
He shouldn't like this Potter boy even though he was so nosy!   
_Kick!_  
And rejected him!   
_Punch!_  
And - 

There was a deep growl on the other side of the door. Draco froze.   
Then there were barks. Deep, loud barks. He took a step back and started to run again.   
And again he hadn't got a destination. This time he just ran for his life. His feet carried him all the way down to the dungeons. He ran and ran until he heard a familiar voice.

"Draco, is that you?" 

It was Severus.   
Thank god. He was so relieved to see his godfather that he hugged him. He knew, Malfoy's shouldn't show their feelings like that but he couldn't help it. This time it was all just too much. The sorting, his fathers anger, Potter and on top of everything this monster or whatever this thing had been.  
The potions professor returned his embrace and placed a caressing hand on his head. And Draco just blurted out everything while Severus listened patiently.


	4. Halloween

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A part of this chapter is basically the Halloween chapter from _Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone_ rewritten from my memory with a few changes.  
> The rights belong to JKR.

The following weeks were pretty awkward. Harry tried to talk to Malfoy again but the blonde just got even meaner and more brazen than before.  
Except from lessons, Malfoy was never found near the other Ravenclaws.  
When the bell rang he would be the first one to leave the classroom and the last one to return to the Ravenclaw tower right before curfew.  
In the great hall he always sat at the Slytherin table while Harry was with Ron and his brothers.  
Percy had explained that you only have to sit at your own table at feasts like Halloween or end of year. 

Time passed by very fast.  
Most classes were very interesting,  
so the young wizard really enjoyed them.  
_Most classes!_  
History of magic was just boring and Snape, the greasy-haired potions professor,  
used every single chance to take points from Harry or to expose him in front of his classmates.  
Once, he took fifteen points from Ravenclaw because he'd dropped his quill by accident.  
The _noise_ would be _'disrupting'_ his lesson,  
he had said. 

Anyway, today was halloween.  
As mentioned, there would be a huge feast for dinner which Harry was getting ready for at the moment.  
He wasn't really in his best mood.  
Snape had taken _fifty_ points from him in _one_ lesson and his classmates weren't happy about it.  
As a result he was now making his way down to the great hall.  
Alone.  
Again.  
The feast-table-rule meant he couldn't sit with the Weasleys this time.  
When he reached the Ravenclaw table, he sat down at the very end without caring who was sitting to his right or across from him. 

"Hey, you're Harry Potter, aren't you?" 

Of course this girl knew for sure that he was. She just tried to be polite. Harry gave a her short nod. 

"I'm Cho Chang. Second year. I've seen you sitting alone in the common room. Already thought about giving you some company but usually it's better to wait until the first years get to know each other better. You know, so they can find friends their age." 

The asian girl, Cho, gave him a questioning glance. She surely wanted to know why he was being alone all the time. 

"I've got some friends in Gryffindor. Can't blame the the other Ravenclaws in my year for not liking me. I'm losing lots of house points in potions. I think the teacher has targeted me since he first saw me. " 

He didn't want to spend Halloween silent and on his own, so why not telling her what she wanted to know.  
By the way, the decorations in the hall were amazing. There were large carved pumpkins, hagrid sized, and living bats flying through the hall. 

"Well as long as you're not losing points on purpose and try your best to get them back in the other subjects, I see no point in not trying to get to know you." 

She gave him a nice smile. It was a beautiful smile. Harry smiled back and the two of them kept on talking throughout the feast.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 

Draco settled down between a fourth year and a sixth year. They were the least likely to start a conversation with him. Everytime Potter looked at him with concern after what had happened, he felt the strong urge to just tell him everything or let himself being hold by him.  
But he was a half-blood _and_ a Ravenclaw and his father had forbidden to make friends with anyone fitting into either of these categories.  
Anyway, it had been _The Boy Who Lived_ who had rejected _his_ hand, not the other way around. Draco had shortly thought about ignoring the rules and just sit with his friends at the Slytherin table but then he didn't want to get himself into trouble anytime soon.  
His father had made very clear that he would regret if he did. 

His mother had sent him another letter two weeks ago and assured him she was proud of him, although he'd been sorted into Ravenclaw. 

_Ravenclaws are decent people,_ she had written, _and wisdom, intelligence, sharpness and individuality are very important traits, too!_

He always carried her letter with him inside the pocket of his robes.  
Everytime his fingertips brushed the expensive parchment he felt a rush of confidence and happiness going through his body.  
It felt ... charmed.  
Not with the to him known kind of magic that lingered in the walls of Malfoy Manor.  
No, this magic gave him _strength_.  
It was pure _positivity_.  
More like the kind of magic that filled the halls of Hogwarts. The kind that made the ceiling above his head look like the cloudy nightsky and made the candles and carved pumpkins float through the hall.

Today Draco had really needed it. This stupid mudblood, Granger or something, had managed to do _Wingardium Leviosa_ on first try.  
He himself had failed making the feather rise from his desk _twice_ before he got it right.  
He was a _pureblood_ and even more significant - _A MALFOY!_  
He was supposed to be on top of every class! And then this mudblood came along, correcting the Weasel's pronounciation, and immediately performed it perfectly! 

He really hoped it had only been starters luck or so. Otherwise his father would most likely get quite angry.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Harry glanced over to the Gryffindor table. 

In spite of the whole lot of food, Ron looked a bit downcast.  
He wondered if this had something to do with Hermione.  
After Ron had made fun of her, she'd seemed to be crying as she'd walked off. 

The dishes disappeared and it was time for dessert now. They were all Halloween themed and looked extremely delicious. 

Well, Harry didn't get a chance to find out if they were because suddenly the huge doors of the hall flew open and Professor Quirrell stormed in.  
Panting, he cried something about a troll in the dungeons before fainting.  
Cho and her friends started to panic.  
So did a lot of other pupils.  
Screams were audible and some were getting to their feet, heading for the door. 

Meanwhile Harry had no idea how to react.  
He didn't know anything about trolls but he was pretty sure that screaming and running around madly would NOT help to solve this. Dumbledore raised his voice and asked them to calm down.  
The hall immediately fell silent. 

"Please everybody follow your prefects back to your dormitories and stay close to each other. Slytherins, you will stay right in here together with Hagrid and and Professor Sprout, this will be the safest for you. The other teachers will please follow me to the dungeons. Stay inside your common room or dormitory until your head of house tells you otherwise. Go now!"

Harry stood up and left the hall with his fellow Ravenclaws. Out of nowhere there was a hand clasping his wrist and dragging him away.  
He spun around.  
It was Ron.

"Harry, Hermione is in the girls bathroom!"

The green, bespectacled eyes of his gave a look of confusion. What the hell was Ron being on about?

"Parvati said she's crying there. Harry, she didn't leave the bathroom since Charms! She doesn't know about the troll!"

Finally it clicked and Harry followed Ron away from the masses of pupils. They ran up a staircase and along deserted corridors.  
When they came around a corner, Harry ran right into Ron.  
He looked up and immediately saw, why he had stopped in his tracks.  
A huge, ugly creature was shuffling inside a room just about 20 meters ahead. 

They exchanged looks and Ron gave him a short nod, agreeing wordlessly to Harry's plan. When the troll had disappeared through the door, they moved towards it as silent and fast as possible.  
The moment they reached it they threw it close with both their body's and locked it.  
The two young wizards grinned at each other in victory and were already congratulating each other when there suddenly was a female scream behind the locked door. Harry froze.

"Hermione!"

Without wasting any time to another thought they unlocked the door and entered the girls bathroom.  
They were welcomed by a terrifying view. 

Cabins were smashed into firewood and were spread all over the floor.  
The troll stood in the center of the mess and its eyes were fixed on one of the porcelain sinks in the corner.  
And under this sink cowered the one and only Hermione Granger, trembling and in shock. She looked frightened to death when the troll raised a wooden bat in size of a small tree. Harry did the only thing that came to his mind. 

_Distraction!_

"Hey, over here dimwit!",

he shouted. Ron took onto it very fast. He grabbed the biggest splinter of wood he could find and aimed at the troll's head as he threw it.

"Oi, peabrain!

They started to throw at the troll with pieces of wood and insults relentlessly. When the beast still didn't react, Harry jumped onto its back and climbed all the way up until his arms were circling its neck from behind. With his hands he tried to hurt the troll in his face, aiming at everything in his reach. Stabbing into its eyes with his fingers or punching its nose. Anything to distract it from Hermione.  
When his left fist landed in the troll's eye, a huge hand grabbed him by his robes and lifted him into the air. Seemed like his plan had worked....kind of.

"Ron! Do something!"

The troll held onto him tightly. Harry had no chance of freeing himself right now.

"Fast!"

He couldn't see what Ron was doing from this angle but after a few seconds he heard him shouting:

" _Wingardium Leviosa!_ "

At first Harry couldn't tell if it had worked but soon he heard a _'thump'_ and the troll let go of his robes, swaying around uncontrollably. When he hit the ground the boy scrambled to his feet as fast as physically possible and observed the situation.  
The troll's bat was lying on the floor between a lot of smaller pieces of wood and it's owner looked like he was about to fall over.  
He ran up to Hermione, dragged her onto her feet and outside the bathroom, where Ron was already standing, a frightened look on his face. They turned around just in time to see the giant creature crashing onto the ground, face first.

"Is he... dead?"

It was Ron who spoke first.

"I don't think so. I'd say he's knocked out."

Harry answered as he felt relief washing over him.

"Let's go get a teacher before he wakes up."

This time it had been Hermione's turn to speak but her suggestion turned out unnecessary.

"No need to get one. There are four, standing right behind you!"

Professors McGonagall, Snape, Quirrell and Flitwick were also standing in the corridor, eyes moving from the three students to the unconscious troll on the bathroom floor.

" _What_ is going on here? Why aren't you in your common rooms?"

McGonagall's lips were thinner than ever. Harry opened his mouth to explain their situation but was cut off by Hermione.

"It was my fault! I’ve read so much about trolls... I thought I could defeat one on my own. The two of them saved me." 

Harry and Ron's eyes widened in surprise.

"I'm very disappointed Miss Granger! Ten points from Gryffindor. And about you two.  
It's not very likely that two first years manage to defeat an adult troll. Each of you will receive ten points for their house. But don't expect to always get this lucky!"

And since then Hermione joined Harry and Ron during meals and free periods.  
There are some things you don't just go through together without developing a friendship afterwards. 

And defeating a troll is definitely one of them!


	5. Behind the Door

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few insults are being thrown around in this chapter but actually I think it’s just cute.

"Where have you been?"  
Anthony looked half furious, half relieved when Harry entered the dorm. Draco had been a little bit worried, too, although he would never admit that. Harry ignored the question. 

"Flitwick says they got rid of the troll."

It seemed like Goldstein wasn't listening to him, either. 

"How dare you leaving the path when Dumbledore told us clearly to stay together! You're loosing enough points during potions. You're dragging our reputation through mud!" 

Harry's face -he'd looked quite cheerful when he'd entered- fell. 

"I never did anything in Snape's classes that would justify him to take so many points from me, and you know that! Anyway, I wasn't punished for... taking the longer way." 

Especially the last sentence caught Draco's attention. _'Taking the longer way'_.  
What a ridiculous story. What _did_ happen after all?  
But Harry, without paying any attention to the curious and expecting glances from the others, went over to his trunk, grabbed his pajamas and disappeared inside the bathroom.  
While the others started discussing Harry's whereabouts during the troll attack in low voices, Draco reached for some parchment, ink and his quill on his nightstand to write a letter to his parents. He knew his father would probably make a big fuzz about a troll being able to get inside Hogwarts but sooner or later he would find out anyway.  
And, when he thought about it, a castle where hundreds of pupils lived, should be safe enough to keep out a stupid troll, shouldn't it?  
Somebody would've made sure of that, right?  
Someone from inside must have let him in! He looked up and opened his mouth to share his theory when he remembered his fathers words. 

_Don't make friends with people from unworthy families!_

He shut his mouth close again. He had to keep his thought to himself for the moment. Maybe he could tell Pansy and Blaise about it but he was sure Goldstein and Corner, being Half Bloods, would not be considered worthy by his father.  
He let out a small sigh, dipped his quill into the black liquid and started writing.  
_  
Dear mother, Dear father,  
I hope you are doing well. I myself am quite fine here. Today there was a mysterious incident. A troll got inside the school during our Halloween feast. Nobody actually saw it but Professor Quirrell stormed into the great hall and fainted in front of the whole student body. It took about an hour until they informed us that the danger was over.  
Apart from that nothing important happened so far. I'm doing very well in all of the classes. Most of the stuff is almost boring but there's this one mudblood girl. She's a pretty annoying know-it-all and spends most of the time alone in the library, trying to keep up to the class level. And her hair looks like she got into an explosion, which is not even very unlikely. She's a Gryffindor and there's this one Gryffindor boy, who always manages to blow things up.  
Tomorrow there'll be the first Quidditch match! Slytherin is definitely going to beat Gryffindor. Blaise told me that Flint became captain this year. I still don't get why first years aren't allowed to try out for the teams! I could've been Ravenclaw seeker this year but now the post is not going to be free for years. The flying lessons here are kind of boring. All we did so far is flying in circles, four feet above the ground. If we only were purebloods we could be learning the cool stuff by now! Whenever possible I'm spending my free time with Pansy and the others. _

_I'm really looking forward to seeing you over Christmas.  
Love,  
Draco.  
_  
: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 

When Harry left the bathroom, with brushed teeth and his pajamas on, all four boys looked up at him and he had the strong suspicion, that Terry, Michael and Anthony had just stopped talking about him. He lay down on his covers and drew the curtains close. As he calmed down the events of the day filled his mind and he doze off with a smile on his lips. Today he'd defeated a mountain troll with his friends. 

_Friends._

This word sounded beautiful! 

***

The next morning he woke up to the sound of a carefully shut door and fading footsteps.  
Yawning, Harry opened his eyes and sat up on his four-poster before pushing the curtains aside left-handed.  
While he was hearing three boys snoring from the other side of the room, the bed to his left was empty. A short look on uncle Vernon's old watch told him it was not time for breakfast, yet.  
Well, this wasn't new to him, was it?  
Draco always set off pretty early and then turned up for breakfast with his friends from Slytherin. 

Harry slowly got to his feet and put on an old, much too large sweater and some worn out pants. Now that he was awake he couldn't think of getting back to sleep. Therefore he just decided to go for a walk. It couldn't hurt to get to know a bit more about the building which he was going to live in for the greater part of the next seven years.  
He left the dorm, closing the door behind him quietly and stepped down to the common room.  
Just when he was about to leave, he heard a tapping noise, similar to small stones being thrown against the window. He turned around and saw a white figure sitting on the window sill. 

"Hedwig!" 

With fast steps he walked over to her and let her in, breathing in the fresh, chilly autumn air, which smelled damp and clear, due to yesterday's storm.  
Hedwig hopped onto Harry's outstretched arm, flapping her wings slightly and let him take a short note out of her beak. Then she went to nibbling his earlobe affectionately. The note, judging by the unruly handwriting and the huge amount of misspellings, was from Hagrid, saying that he'd like to meet him after the Quidditch game and that Harry should visit him with his friends in his hut.  
A smile spread across his face.  
This was the first time Harry got an invitation. A warm feeling filled up his chest. He'd finally found friends.  
Not one, not two but three friends and two of them were his age.  
Keeping this sincere smile on his lips he pushed the window close again and decided to bring Hedwig up to the owlery himself. 

To his surprise he came across Malfoy on his way, who was walking in the opposite direction.  
Why would someone stand up this early to send a letter? 

"What are you staring at, Potter? Fancy me?" 

"Wha- Why would I- Oh, just shut it Malfoy!" 

"Everything you wish, _Scarface_!" 

With that Malfoy strode off wearing his trademark smirk.  
Sighing Harry shook his head to get rid off the anger welling up inside him. The git had gotten even more insufferable over the last weeks, though he just couldn't get it over with being offensive to him.  
He still had the pictures of a crying, pale boy, crouched against the wall and shaking like hell, burned into the back of his eyes.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

When Draco left the owlery, after sending his owl home with his letter, it was way to early for breakfast and Blaise and Pansy were probably still sleeping.  
So he decided to go to the library.  
As he was often awake pretty early, he knew Madam Pince would already be there at this time. Anyway, after he'd come along Potter, his thoughts drove off and he didn't watch his way.

Therefore he found himself again in front of the door to the left corridor on the third floor.  
It was silent.  
Curious, he closed the space left between him and the door with a few steps and put his ear against it.  
No barks.  
No footsteps.  
He tried to listen harder.  
There! There it was!  
Someone or something was snoring inside the corridor. Whatever it was, it seemed to be asleep. 

_Should I? Should I not?_

Eventually his curiousity won and he pulled out his wand. 

" _Alohomora!_ " 

Of course he'd done research since the last time. He'd found the spell in one of the books his personal educator had given him. He had wanted to make sure Draco would be on top of every class when school started.  
Well, he would be. If it wasn’t for that Granger girl. 

Ignoring his heart beating painfully against his chest he slowly pulled the door open and peered into the corridor. At first it was too dark to see anything. The only difference was that the snores got louder. He deeply regretted not trying harder to master Lumos last summer.  
In an attempt to finally discover whatever was sleeping in here, he stepped further into the room. Suddenly he stopped in his tracks.  
It was silent.  
No snores.  
Then there was a much too familiar growl. Draco wanted to scream, he wanted to run, but he found that he coulnd't move.  
A huge figure appeared in the shadows.  
Giant and three-headed and teeth gnashing. 

"Hello?..." 

Fear and adrenaline muffled the voice in his back. 

"Malfoy? What are you doing here? This is the forb-..." 

Seemed like whoever had entered the corridor had just spotted the monster. 

" _Malfoy!_ " 

The voice whisper-shouted. 

" _Malfoy, step back. Slowly. Get out of there!_ " 

Still Draco couldn't move a bit. His mind was blank and he was filled with fear.  
A few slow steps and then he felt a thin hand wrapping around his upper arm slowly dragging him backwards.  
Draco stumbled and almost fell onto his behind but the hand held him upright. Anyway this had created a loud sound and suddenly the three-headed creature lunged forwards and started to bark loudly. 

"Run!" 

The hand didn't losen it's grip and so Draco was pulled into a run. They escaped the corridor and finally pushed the door shut behind them. 

Panting, Draco's awareness returned and he glanced to his right to see none other than Harry Potter standing next to him, leaning against the door. 

The boy who had once defeated the greatest wizard of all times had just saved him.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Harry looked up. 

"What the hell were you thinking? Or did you even think at all? You're a bloody Ravenclaw, you're supposed to be intelligent enough to not enter a corridor, which, I quote, 'we should not enter if we don't want to die a very painful death'!" 

It was lucky that he'd decided to go this way after Hedwig had settled in the owlery and that he saw the door to the forbidden corridor standing wide open. Malfoy didn't answer at once.  
He still looked shocked. 

"What was that thing anyway?" 

Harry changed the subject in hope to get a reply this time. 

"It looked like a ginormous dog... but with three heads..." 

The pureblood's voice was low and trembling as he described what he'd seen. 

Silence.  
Not sure how to continue, Harry looked at him and they locked eyes. There were unspoken words of gratitude in the grey ones which were still wide and stirred up.  
After some time, could've been seconds or minutes, the silence got akward and Harry interrupted it. 

"Let's head for breakfast." 

And they set off, walking next to each other, not daring to talk about what had happened but also not daring to leave the other alone, either. They were the first ones to be in the great hall, neither Harry nor Draco's friends being awake, yet. They settled down at Ravenclaw table next to each other. It was a bit weird to sit with the person that had been offending him for the past two months right until just this morning, but feeling glad that he didn't leave you alone.


	6. Quidditch and Theories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: bad attempt at writing Hagrid’s accent :)

When Granger and the Weasel joined Harry on the way to the Quidditch pitch, Draco left them to themselves. He'd wanted to watch the game with the Slytherins anyway but still his mood fell a bit. 

"Since when do you talk to Potter?", 

asked Pansy in her shrill voice. 

"I don't talk to him!" 

Well, it wasn't a lie. They didn't really talk. But neither could he say that he still hated Ha-Potter. Actually he never hated him but he would never admit that, not even to himself! Draco looked over to the opposite side of the pitch and eventually spotted the raven-haired boy. Though it was quite chilly outside he suddenly felt himself warm up at the sight. Strange feeling...  
After a bit Harry raised his head and locked eyes with Draco. He immediately turned away, towards Pansy. 

"Hurry up, I want to sit in the first row." 

A few minutes later Madam Hooch blew her whistle and 14 teenagers soared into the air, seven in green, the other seven in red robes. Now it didn't take long to ban Potter from his mind. This was his passion!  
Since his fourth birthday, when his father had taken him to his first Quidditch match, he'd been in love with the sport and the idea of becoming a professional Quidditch player was stuck inside his head. The match taking place in front of him was quite eventful. Slytherin clearly had the upper hand, they were leading 50 to 10 after ten minutes, but their seeker almost got hit by a bludger, sent from a Weasley, twice. Not long after, unfortunately, Gryffindor caught up and the counter stayed at 60 to 60 for almost an entire hour. Suddenly Flint made a dirty move, knocking Wood off his broom with a bludger causing angry shouts from the Gryffindor stands. After that, the game came to an end very fast. Without the Gryffindor's keeper it was an easy one for Slytherin to score three more times in a row and before Gryffindor had a chance to return the 'favor', the Slytherin seeker caught the snitch. Deafening cheers erupted around Draco and he left his seat exitedly discussing the match with Blaise and Crabbe.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 

Wow. That had been impressive. The few times Harry had sat on a broom yet had been pretty nice, too, but the Quidditch players on the pitch were just amazing. Wood, the Gryffindor keeper, had made a lot of stunning movements to stop or catch the Quaffle. Before the Slytherin captain had pulled that unfair move, of course. And it looked so impressive how the twins had flown from side to side and hit the Bludgers with every attempt, shooting them towards a Slytherin. Now Harry could understand why Ron was so fascinated by the sport. On the way back to the castle they spotted a huge furr coat in front of them and the letter came to his mind again.

"Ron, Hermione, wanna join me visiting Hagrid?" 

When they both agreed they sped up to catch up with the gamekeeper. 

"Ah, hullo Harry! Wanna come over for a cuppa?" 

"Sure." 

They spent all afternoon in Hagrid’s hut and talked about everything that had occurred so far. It showed that Hagrid already knew about their adventure of the last night which already seemed to have taken place weeks ago to Harry. Then the dog, Fang, started licking his hand and Harry suddenly remembered this morning's events. 

"Hey, Hagrid. Do you know something about the three headed creature in the corridor on the 3rd floor?" 

The other three looked at him in shock and surprise. And all of them started speaking at the exact same time. Though they talked all at once he could make out Hermione's voice telling him off for entering it because it was forbidden and how stupid he was, Ron saying something about being confused and he could even hear Hagrid saying something like:

"How d'ya know 'bout Fluffy?" 

So he had to explain everything, though he left out the part that Malfoy had been involved. That wasn't his story to tell. Anyway, he wondered why Malfoy had been there himself. When he'd finished it was quiet. 

"So you saw the door open and decided it would be a great idea to just check what in there could be so dangerous before closing the the door?"

Hermione asked in an accusing tone. 

"Someone could of been in there! Please Hagrid, tell us what you know about this creature." 

"Tha's Fluffy! He's mine! I borrowed him to Dumbledore so he could guard the... I shouldn't have said that! I should NOT have said that! See, is almost dinner time, you lot gotta go now! _I should not have said that!_ " 

"But Hagrid..." 

He shoved them towards the door. 

"Just forget 'bout it. This is only between Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel... I should not have said that. I didn't say that! See y'all at dinner." 

And the door fell shut right in front of them. With startled and confused expressions they walked back towards the castle. 

"That was weird!", 

Ron said. 

"He definitely knows something." 

After some time Hermione spoke up. 

"What could that creature be guarding? What would Dumbledore need to guard?" 

During Dinner they made a lot of suggestions, most of them immediately crossed out by Hermione. 

"No, Harry, Dumbledore would NOT lock prisoners in there!" 

The longer they talked about it, the stranger got the theories. Meanwhile they had started to walk upstairs and came to a halt where they had to part ways. 

"What about werewo-" 

"Ronald, don't even finish that sentence! I think it's best to sleep over all of it! Good night, Harry!" 

Harry also wished them a good nights sleep and made his way up the Ravenclaw tower. Surprisingly Malfoy was already up in their dorm. He'd seen Terry, Anthony and Michael sitting together in the common room, probably studying and eagerly ignoring him. 

"Hi!", 

he greeted the blonde, who was reading on his bed. The other boy looked up at him and nodded, before turning his gaze back to the pages. Harry smiled to himself. No insults, no ignoring, no sneer. That definitely could be counted as improvement. Tiredness flooded him when he approached his bed. He changed into pajamas and as soon as his head touched his pillow he fell asleep, exhausted from the long and eventful day.


	7. A Day of Classes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kind-of-introducing-my-OC-in-this-chapter-but-actually-not-really-but-yeah. I love her so be excited for more.

Monday started with double Potions together with Hufflepuff. Draco's favorite subject with his godfather as teacher. But on Friday when they had made their first potion, a cheer-up brew, he'd gotten paired up with a Hufflepuff.  
She was pretty good at Potions, Draco had to admit that, but she was way too nosy. The last time she'd asked him why he was _'so grumpy'_ at least three times. He could only hope today was bound to be better. When he arrived in front of the classroom door, she was already waiting. 

"Good morning, Draco! How was your weekend." 

He let hear an unnerved groan.  
Salazar, this girl was way too cheerful by his means. And... wait.  
Did she just call him by his first name? What an audacity! He was a Malfoy! She was to show respect towards him! 

Draco's eyebrows furrowed in anger and he was just about to tell her off for it when Harry as well as Severus turned up and class started. After they got their instructions on how to continue with their potion the girl - he didn't even try to remember her name - started talking. All the bloody time. And she just wouldn't shut up. Whispering and babbling about everything and anything. Draco didn't care to listen and concentrated on the potion instead. Every now and then he caught something like : 

"My brother is in seventh year now" 

and 

"It's so rare to have two muggleborn wizards or witches in one family" 

or 

"I love Michael Jackson! Have you heard of him?" 

He hadn't. And he didn't give a damn who that guy was anyway. When Severus limped towards them she got silent until he'd passed them and carried on with checking on the others' potions.  
He froze. _Limped?!_ Severus was _limping_?!

Curious, Draco spun aroun and looked after his godfather. Yes, he definitely was injured on the left leg. Shortly the thought flicked through his mind, to just ask the Professor about it after class but he shook it off in no time. 

This was none of his business.  
His father had taught him.  
_Don't be nosy.  
You'll be told about everything you need to know, so don't ask any annoying questions. _

Ignoring the concerned voice in the back of his mind he went back to cutting his dried rat tails.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Harry as well had spotted Snape's injury. He even could have sworn to have seen a drop of blood running down the Professor's left shoe. But before he could take a second glance, Snape hid it with his robe and snarled,

"Five points from Ravenclaw for being nosy, Potter, and another five for not concentrating on your assignment. Keep your eyes on your cauldron and whatever this is meant to be inside of it." 

Outrageous, Harry opened his mouth to argue - he hadn't even said a word - but closed it again. This was no good anyways and it would only cost him even more house points.  
Surpressing his anger he shot a glance into his cauldron. The liquid inside had a sick orange color and thick clumps were swimming on the surface while it should be a clear deep red shade by now.  
He'd gotten paired with Padma Patil who turned out to be almost as bad as Harry at potions.  
Speaking of Padma, she was glaring at him with an accusing look on her face. As if he would lose all those points on purpose. 

Their potion didn't get any better in the remaining half an hour -if it hadn’t even got worse- and Harry was truly relieved when the bell rang and he was finally able to storm out. 

The next two lessons were dragging on and on.  
They had Transfiguration with the Slytherins and although McGonagall was pretty strict and kept her classroom silent most of the time, Harry could hear Draco and his friends whispering insults towards him and sniggering every time he failed to transfigure his match into a needle.  
As if it wasn't enough to distract him from the lesson, it had to be Draco calling him stupid names. Last time he'd checked they had been on good terms! Well at least he hadn't been insulting him anymore since Saturday. But having shared a dorm with the other boy for over two months (had it really been that long already) Harry guessed it was because of Crabbe, Goyle, Zabini and Parkinson. In evidence of Draco spending so much time with his friends, they had to be important to him. And Slytherins were mostly very prejudiced towards almost everything, including the other three houses. Maybe Malfoy wanted to prove that he's still Slytherin enough to be with them or maybe even lead them, despite him being a Ravenclaw.

In DADA Quirrell's stuttering started to really annoy him that day.  
Couldn't he just say what he was thinking?  
Finally the bell rang and he sprinted all the way down to the great hall for lunch and headed straight for the Gryffindor table. When Ron and Hermione finally joined him he immediately started to tell them everything about Snapes leg. Hermione was the first to see the connection. 

"Wait! Did anyone of you see Snape since Friday?" 

Both boys shook their heads. 

"What if he got bitten by Fluffy as he tried to get past him when everybody was distracted by the troll?" 

"Wait, so you're saying that Snape let the troll inside?" 

"Probably, yes!" 

They kept on discussing all the time during lunch. Harry had to admit, it sounded a bit ridiculous. A teacher trying to break into a guarded room inside the school? But after all, Snape didn't seem like any of the other teachers.  
Drifting off in thought his eyes caught platinum blonde hair reflecting the sun which stood high in the enchanted ceiling. Malfoy's eyebrows were drawn together in something that looked like a mix of concern and curiosity as he was talking to his friends. They still hadn't exchanged a word since the... incident.  
As if the other boy was sensing his gaze, the blonde looked up and locked eyes with him. 

"Harry, what do you reckon this dog thing is guarding?" 

The bespectacled boy tore his eyes away when Ron adressed him and suddenly focused on his food, feeling kind of uncomfortable. The question he just answered with a short shrug. Hermione seemed to notice his strange behaviour. 

"Are you alright? Did anything else happen?" 

Acting surprised by the question he made up an excuse. 

"What? Oh, no. Just wondering..." 

"Fine then." 

The bushy haired girl said, sounding unconvinced. 

"Wanna go down to the lake with us after Astronomy? Fred and George have Quidditch practice at five so we could go to the pitch and watch them afterwards." 

Harry simply nodded, still a bit lost in thoughts - even when they walked to Charms together.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Draco was confused.  
Hundreds of questions filled his head and costed him all his concentration.  
A few things, he'd shared with his friends but none of them had an idea what had happened to his godfather's leg. Most of the thoughts he had to keep to himself.  
He couldn't tell Pansy and Blaise about the dog-creature thing and neither could he mention that he wondered why the Granger girl suddenly started talking to Potter.  
It was a ridiculous thought anyway.  
Why should he care who the boy spent his time with?  
At this moment they were sitting huddled together with the Weaslebee in their corner of the Astronomy classroom.  
The days were still too long to be able to see the stars at this time of the day so they were still stuck with the theory-bullshit.  
_  
'In what angle does Mars stand to Venus in June?'  
_  
Who _cares_? Even if Draco could concentrate on stupid planet positions, he still wouldn't bother to pay attention. When the bell rang he left the classroom with an empty parchment.


	8. Welcome!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No warnings except for a little sadness and dramatics.  
>  _  
> Comment if you get the reference my G(r)eeks ;)  
> _

Draco didn't come to any new conclusions over the following few weeks.  
End of November came and suddenly everyone was in Christmas mood. Seemed like this atmosphere had even reached the house elves; the Ravenclaw common room was littered with branches of mistletoe, lametta and fairy lights, which eagerly illuminated books and parchments for everyone reading or doing homework at night. 

As Draco glanced out the window a small smile played on his lips; the grounds were covered in a thin layer of snow. The Malfoy heir had always loved snow. His mother had used to go outside with him and help him building a snow-wizard. Lucius would watch them through the window and when the two of them came back inside, robes completely soaked, they would sit with each other on the green velvet couch by the fireplace and let themselves enjoy some hot chocolate with cream.  
A perfect family.  
This was going to be the best day in weeks and not even the christmas carol singing armours could get him down. 

And once again fate would prove him wrong. 

When the blonde sat down at the Slytherin table next to Blaise for breakfast, a black barn owl was waiting for him with a letter. It was his fathers owl, Atticus.  
A proud bird which's posture really reminded him of the noble Lucius Malfoy. Curious but still happy Draco took the envelope and broke the green wax seal. Slowly he unfolded the expensive parchment holding elegant words written in night black ink.  
_  
'Dear Son,  
We hope you are doing fine and your grades are as outstanding as always. Unfortunately your mother and I won't be staying in England over Christmas. The Minister has an important Job for me in Italy and we can't afford to lose his faith just now. I'm sorry to tell you that you'll have to stay at Hogwarts over the holidays. But we are truly looking forward to seeing you for Easter.  
Lucius Malfoy.'  
_  
A lump had built up in his throat while reading and he felt tears welling up as his excitement shattered into daggers, piercing his heart. His eyes watering, he turned around on the spot and rushed out of the hall.  
Nobody was to see him cry.  
He wanted to be alone.  
He wanted to talk to someone.  
But he couldn't. No. 

Aimlessly he fled from the other pupils. Away from them.  
Needed to be alone.  
Needed a place to hide.  
Needed quiet.  
No one could see. 

Suddenly he made out a movement to his right. When he turned his head he found an odd-looking door appearing on the wall. It was wooden, like many doors in this castle, but still very different. Not as old. Not as... severe. It almost seemed soft. And in purple color there was a word written across it, right on his eye level. It said:  
**_  
'Welcome'  
_ **  
Strange. If anyone would have seen this door before, there would've clearly been rumours about it. How come he hadn't heard about it? And it also had never been mentioned in _Hogwarts: A history_.  
But when he thought about it, it was just perfect;  
nobody would be looking for him in a place that they didn't even know. With confident steps he strode towards it and tried to push it open. It didn't move a bit. With a second glance he examined the door further. No handle, no key hole. Only the inscription and a simple, circular door knocker. 

A door knocker? 

Hesitantly he took it and let it fall back against the door again. It didn't even cause a sound. The door just opened a crack.  
Proud that he had figured that thing out on his own Draco pushed it open and entered what looked like a living room to him. It was slightly smaller than a classroom and contained a fireplace, a purple couch and a desk. Floor and walls were wooden and right across from him there was a huge window, which didn't show the snowy grounds as expected, but an amazing view of the ocean and the beach, though he knew those had to be hundreds of miles away. A purple carpet and bookshelves made the room look even cozier and completed the image. 

He was so stunned that he totally forgot why he was here in the first place. Until the door fell shut in his back and he suddenly got aware again of the letter which was still clutched in his right hand, the expensive parchment crumpled. Draco gulped and slumped onto the couch facing the crackling fire. 

In an instant he got hit by realization:  
His parents wouldn't spend Christmas with him. He would be here. Alone.  
They didn't want him home.  
Maybe they wouldn't want him home _ever again_.  
What if his father was so disgusted by him being a Ravenclaw that he would actually _disown_ him?  
He had already threatened to do so after all!  
If only there was someone he could talk to. He felt a lump closing his throat again as a sob welled up inside him. His mother had been the only person he could talk to. And now she wanted to leave him here over Christmas as well!  
_He was all alone..._  
A single, hot tear dribbled down his cheek. Suddenly he wished Harry was here. 

Wait _what?_  
No, of course he did not want Potter to see him like this. This was ridiculous. 

"Stupid Scarhead!" 

_Using swearwords, are we?_

Draco's head shot up from where he had rested it in his hands. 

"Who is there?" 

_Who I am?_

The soft and warm voice seemed to surround him.  
_  
I'm not human. Neither am I an animal or a magical creature. But I'm also not an object. I think you could call me Nobody!  
_  
"What the hell is wrong with this place?" 

Draco jumped to his feet and his eyes scanned the room anxiously, trying to make out the source of the voice.  
_  
Ts, ts, ts. Enough swearing for today, Draco.  
_  
Although the voice sounded rather inviting, the use of his name - his first name in particular - made a cold shudder run down his spine. 

"How do you know my name?" 

This place was bloody creepy and in every other situation he'd have left but he felt like all power had been sucked away from him by this goddamned letter.  
_  
Oh I know a lot more than you could ever imagine. Besides, I would never welcome someone to this home without knowing their name. But let's get to the important things. What's on your heart my dear? Spill it to me!  
_  
This was so strange. The voice sounded neiher male nor female, nor could he locate where it came from. Draco considered questioning _'Nobody'_ about wherefrom he knew that he had a problem but then it seemed obvious.  
When he... she... When the room knew his name, then it surely would also know why he'd entered it in the first place.  
And he really needed to talk.  
It was all too much just now. 

Giving in, the boy sat down on the couch once again and was staring in to the orange flames, which were licking on the bricks of the fireplace. 

_That's right. Now share with me, what's got your heart down?_

He didn't answer immediately. 

_Would you maybe like something to drink? Hot chocolate? Tea?_

Draco nodded and as if _'Nobody'_ had read his mind, a steaming mug of hot chocolate appeared on the small table in front of him. He muttered a 'thanks' and took a sip of the sugary substance before he told his story.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 

Harry entered the great hall and took a seat next to a reading Hermione. Automatically he glanced over to the Slytherin table to find Draco's friends sitting there as usual. But a certain Ravenclaw was not amongst them. Further, Parkinson and Zabini looked rather worried.  
Concerned, he waved his gaze over all the students all day long but the blonde didn't show up. Nowhere. Not once. 

Late at night Harry was still lying awake, his brain not letting him sleep, no matter how exhausted he was.  
At one point he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore but still wasn't able to drift off.  
When he finally heard the door creak open he sighed in relief and turned over once more to immediately be welcomed by a dreamless slumber.


	9. Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not to spoil or anything but they ACTUALLY make some kind of conversation in this one.

The next four weeks passed by in a rush and suddenly the holidays arrived. Most of the students left and Christmas Eve came.  
When Harry entered the great hall he was greeted by a great feast. In order to make the tables look less empty only the seats near the teachers table were set.  
Due to the feast rule Harry couldn't sit with the Weasleys and Hermione, so he sat down next to Malfoy. At first he kind of expected the other boy to insult him and push him away but the blonde only shortly looked up and then turned his gaze back to his empty plate again. Cho had taken the train back home the day before so he had no one to talk to. This made him think of something. 

He had a plan! Over Christmas he would get Malfoy to talk to him! And he would start with it right now!  
Finally everyone who stayed for Christmas was seated and Dumbledore stood up to greet them with one of his weird speeches and open the feast. 

While he piled some potatoes onto his plate Harry made his first move:  
_Smalltalk_

"So, why aren't you spending Christmas with your family?" 

"That's none of you business, Scarface!" 

snapped the pureblood. 

Okay, this was gonna be hard.  
Seemed like he had to take it very slow at first. He waited with the next attempt until dessert. In the meantime he thought about what he could say without offending the silent boy.  
Finally he had an idea. 

"I've realised your flying is pretty good. Do you like Quidditch?" 

Malfoy looked up in surprise. He didn't answer immediately. When he nodded eventually it filled Harry with joy. Okay, he already achieved something. Now he had to keep talking before the other one closed up again. 

"Me as well. It looked fascinating how the players soared over the sky at the match. Must feel so much greater than having to fly in a height less than your own body height." 

A small smirk appeared on Malfoy's face shortly. 

"What is it? What are you smirking at?" 

"Well it isn't exactly less than _your_ body height, tiny as you are." 

The smirk was now plastered to his face, big and bright. 

"Ha, ha, very funny, Malfoy. But seriously, when are we going to learn some exciting stuff?" 

"Well, _I_ know a lot of this stuff already." 

Great, now he was really talking. More than Harry had expected actually. 

"Could you maybe show me?" 

Malfoy raised an eyebrow. 

"And risk that you'll beat me in the try outs next September?" 

They kept talking about Quidditch and by the time they were send up to bed Harry had found out that Malfoy's favorite team were the _Falmouth Falcons_ and that he already owned a broomstick, a _Comet Two Ninety_ \- but he would get a new one as soon as he got a place on the quidditch team.

They stood up and when they reached the doors of the great hall somebody called for Harry. He turned around to find Hermione and Ron catching up with them. 

"Um,...Malfoy. Would it bother you to walk to the tower alone. I..." 

He prodded his head towards his two friends. All he received was a shrug before the blonde set off. Actually he felt a bit bad for leaving him alone. 

"Hi, guys! Enjoyed the feast?" 

Both bluntly ignored the question. 

"What the bloody hell were you talking to Malfoy about, mate? And since when do you two talk at all?" 

Harry sighed.  
He should have expected something like that. But he really didn't want to tell them somehow. Especially Ron wouldn't be able to understand. 

"We were... discussing... the last Quidditch match!" 

And to give his half-lie the last touch: 

"He insisted that Slytherin played fair." 

Ron seemed kind of pleased with that answer but Hermione gave him a doubting look. She didn't question him further, though. Instead she wished him a good night and headed off to the Gryffindor common room, Ron close behind.  
Then Harry also made his way to the Ravenclaw tower, up the spiral staircase and greeted Malfoy who was already trying to solve the door knockers riddle. 

"The question is... wait, I'll just let him repeat."

Malfoy used the door knocker and it sang:

_'I am not alive, but I grow;  
I don't have lungs, but I need air;  
I don't have a mouth, but water kills me.  
What am I?' _

"Any idea?" 

"Maybe some kind of plant?" 

"Plants don't get killed by water, Scarface." 

"Um, what about _'fire'_?" 

The door swung open immediately.

"Well." 

Malfoy said it with a blank expression. Harry rolled his eyes. 

"I'll take that as a compliment." 

And the two young Ravenclaws went to bed.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

On Christmas morning Draco woke up to a huge pile of presents at the end of his bed. 

His heart jumped.  
Seemed like his parents didn't despise him that much after all.  
Exitedly he sat up and reached for one of the smaller packages on the top. These were most likely sweets. Before he ripped it open though, he glanced over to the bed next to his. It had grown to a bit of an habit to check on H-... Potter.  
The black haired boy was still asleep, glasses resting on his nightstand. Then he spotted the presents. Draco's jaw dropped. How could it be that _The Boy Who Lived_ only got six presents for Christmas?! And only two of them were bigger than a book! Suddenly he felt very sorry. He'd never doubted that the famous Harry Potter was loved by everyone and would surely receive a lot of presents. He himself had about twenty five. It was not fair! 

Of course he would share his sweets with a friend in a situation like this but Potter wasn't his friend. He'd had his chance. And he'd missed it. So what if no one cared about _the golden boy_?  
None of his business!  
But deep down he knew this wasn't the way he felt.  
This boy sleeping on the bed next to his own had saved his life. He'd mostly treated him with respect and sometimes even care while he'd been insulting him for months. 

Before his brain could catch up to what he was actually doing he was standing next to the only other occupied bed in this dorm, two of his own small parcels in his hand and placing them next to Harry's. The small boy stirred in his sleep and Draco got back onto his own bed as fast as somehow possible. When he glanced back and found Harry still sleeping he let out the breath he'd been holding and turned his attention back on his own gifts. 

Still his mind didn't leave completely off of his roommate. He remembered the last evening. It had been nice talking to him about Quidditch. Of course he wouldn't allow a conversation like this to happen if people knowing his father were around. But family was a strong priority amongst purebloods, which meant almost all of them had left over Christmas, and his father would never converse with anyone less than a pureblood. 

"Happy Christmas!" 

Surprised Draco looked up and saw Harry sitting on his bed, smiling at him, his hair tousled even worse than usual. He realised, he'd never seen Harry waking up before, even though they'd been roommates for months now and his heart warmed at the sight. He felt a light blush crawling up his cheeks and shook his head to get rid of it. His gaze directed to the book he'd just been unwrapping, he finally dared to answer, 

"Happy Christmas, Potter."

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 

Smiling at the fact that Malfoy was still talking to him he grabbed his glasses and put them on.  
When he lifted his sheets to stand up he spotted something at the end of his bed.  
_  
Were that-? But who would-?  
_  
"I've got presents?" 

Surprise and disbelief were lacing his voice. 

"Obviously! Why does this surprise you?" 

"I never get presents!" 

Malfoy looked shocked. 

"What? Not even for your birthday?" 

Harry snorted. 

"I don't even think the Dursleys know my birthday." 

The blonde gaped at him and seemed to have totally forgotten about the expensive potions set laying half unwrapped in front of him. 

"Are you kidding me? What kind of wizards could treat the boy who lived like that?" 

"Oh they are no wizards. They're the family of my muggle aunt." 

"You've been raised by muggles? This is awful!" 

"Yeah, I don't quite fancy going back there over summer." 

For a few moments they remained silent and Malfoy looked like he expected him to do something. 

"Well, unwrap them!" 

"What? Oh sure." 

Excited, Harry took one of the presents, a small one from the top, and ripped off the ugly, brown wrapping material. A note was sticking to the self made bonbons. It said: _  
'Happy Christmas Harry! If you want, you, Hermione and Ron can visit me this afternoon. I've gotta show you something. Hagrid.'  
_  
Harry smiled. He really liked the gesture of getting something selfmade but he definitely wouldn't risk to try those sweets if his life depended on it. He'd already made bad experiences with Hagrids cooking skills.  
Next he opened one of the bigger parcels. In the red wrapping he found a note and a sweater. The sweater was red and beared a big 'H' on the front. The note said that it was a Christmas sweater from Mrs. Weasley.  
He eagerly changed his pajama top for the new clothing item and found that it fit perfectly. His smile grew even wider. Apart from his school robes he'd never had something fitting perfectly. Harry decided to wear that sweater as often as possible. And he had to show it to Hermione and Ron later.  
Speaking of them, Ron's present had been a package of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans and two chocolate frogs. Hermione had - who would have thought that? - sent him a book. 

He left the two small packages from the top, which had a far more expensive and nicer looking wrapping, for the end. 

Instead he opened the one from the Dursleys he was surprised. They had actually sent him a five pound note. That was like the only money he had ever received from them.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 

Harry didn't seem to notice that Draco had stopped unwrapping his own presents. Neither did he seem to notice that he was watching him all along relishing the warm feeling and tingle in his stomach he got from seeing Harry smile. Said boy was now unpacking his second large parcel and a silver fabric slipped through his hands and landed on the bed.  
The brunette looked up at him curiously, picking the silky material up again. 

"Any idea what this is?" 

"Looks like a robe to me. Try it on." 

Draco's eyes went wide when he saw Harry throwing the cloak over his shoulders, or better: not saw. 

"They are very rare!" 

"What? What are you talking about?" 

"Harry, this is an invisibility cloak." 

As soon as he realised his mistake, he turned his head away but Harry seemingly hadn't noticed the use of his first name. He was probably too distracted by the fact that his body was gone. 

"Woah. That's crazy." 

After the Potter boy had finished admiring the effects of the cloak, he finally opened Draco's presents.  
He didn't rip the paper off as carelessly as he did with the others. Putting the "shiny" wrapping aside he held a small black box with silver lettering in his hand which Draco knew contained a _Volusceris_.  
A single, magical chocolate candy with a cheer-up-potion core. An expensive sweet, customarily used to satisfy crying, bored or lonely children at pureblood-dinner-parties. Draco's mouth watered at the sight of the delicate chocolate. Therefore it took him a bit to realize that Harry was smiling at him knowingly. 

"Wanna share?" 

"What? You wanna eat this now? You really don't know about nothing, do you? I highly recommend for you to keep this one as long as possible. You probably won't get your hands on another one any time soon, Potter! It contains _liquid happiness_." 

Harry still smiled like that. 

"I don't care. You seem to really like those." 

He broke the candy in two, almost equal halves and stood up handing Draco one of them. The blonde took it eagerly, not even think about rejecting the offer for a second time. Harry raised his half into the air. 

"Cheers!" 

And they both enjoyed the delicious chocolate melting in their mouth and the bizzling taste of the potion. Draco hummed from joy and shortly after the sweets had gone down their throats they were grinning at each other stupidly.  
A rush of happiness was filling their bodys and memories were crossing Draco's mind.  
Memories of Blaise, Theo and him sneaking away from stupid dinner parties, of his mother reading to him, of afternoons with hot chocolate after playing in the snow... _  
The snow!_

Draco shot a look towards the window and saw thick snowflakes dancing over the pale sky. Grinning even wider he turned back to Harry. 

"The first one to touch the snow is the winner!" 

And both of them sprinted out the dorm and all the way down towards the Entrance hall. All their sorrows were completely forgotten for the moment. And so were the remaining presents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credit for the riddle goes to d.e.a.t.h.l.y_h.a.l.l.o.w.s on Instagram! I asked them for permission to use them! Amazing person, go check them out, booklovers!


	10. Smooth Criminal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to the King of Pop.

They didn't really feel the potion wear off. Completely lost of any sense of time they played in the snow and when they went inside again, fully drenched, the effects of the liquid happiness were all gone. Still they were grinning at each other happily - until Filch came across their way. 

"What do you think you are doing?! Do you know how long it takes to clean the floor off your muddy footprints. In my office! Both of you!" 

They got detention. Polishing all of the awards in the trophy room on the following monday. Their smiles had faded when they had changed their clothes into dry ones and went down for lunch. Having skipped breakfast, Harry was really hungry. 

"Should we sit with Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table ?" 

"Why would I want to sit with those Gryffindorks? Or you for that matter." 

Harry stopped walking and stared at Malfoy, who was heading for the Slytherin table, in shock.  
_What was wrong with this kid?_  
Harry really didn't understand. But it hurt to see the blonde leaving him alone like that. Pushing it aside he put a smile on and made his way to his friends. 

The rest of the holidays were confusing. Most of the time he spent with the Weasleys and Hermione and they had lots of fun. They even sneaked him into the Gryffindor common room a few times. Malfoy kept ignoring him, no matter how often Harry tried to start a conversation. It seemed the Christmas morning had never happened. Like they hadn't had their greatest fun in months playing in the snow together. Like Malfoy had never given him two of his presents. Yeah, that had been pretty obvious. The wrapping had been the same as on the pureblood's presents and Harry didn't know anyone else who would give him something like that. He wondered where Malfoy went all the time. During the day he often disappeared and all the times Harry attempted to find him, he was nowhere to be seen. Not in the grounds, neither in the yard, nor in the library - Hermione could confirm this. She had been spending a great deal of time in there, searching for information on Nicolas Flamel. There was nothing to be found as it seemed. She even urged Harry to enter the restricted section with his invisibility cloak. He had tried but he only managed to escape Filch with a lot of luck and he didn't want to risk another detention too soon.  
The one on monday had been enough for the next couple of months. It had reminded him horribly of the time at the Dursleys where he had to kneel on the floor to clean something and was either being ignored or insulted. Yeah Malfoy was back to that again, as well. Harry really couldn't remember to have made a mistake. The second present from Malfoy he'd put into his trunk without unwrapping it. There it lay next to Hermione's book, the cloak and the note that had came with it. It didn't bear a signature but it said that the useful item had once been his father's. Therefore he'd sworn himself to always look after it and never, not in a thousand years, lose it. The only good thing that came from that detention was, that he had found a special trophy in the room. Dedicated to James Potter for scoring 25 goals as a chaser all by himself in one single match with less than 2 hours playing time. In this moment Harry had decided to do _everything_ to get onto the Quidditch team. Sure, Malfoy had much more practice but Harry was doing it to make his father proud and this was the perfect motivation. 

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 

On the Saturday the other students were to return Draco was sitting in - like he had named it - _Nowhere_. He had spent almost every second of the holidays in there, either talking to _Nobody_ or reading, always while drinking hot chocolate or tea. His friends weren't around, the other Ravenclaws tolerated him but he didn't dare talking with them more than was necessary, he didn't want his father to dispise him even more. Apart from sending a thank you letter for the presents he hadn't been in contact with his parents; he had nothing he wanted to tell them and he didn't want to ruin their vacation without him. And of course he would never talk to Potter again. That idiot had gotten him into trouble with his stupidity. If his father would ever hear about this...

Draco had tried his best to avoid the Scarface ever since. Except their detention of course. No Malfoy had ever been forced to do such disgusting, filthy house elf work before. He really was a shame for his family. Potter had worked a lot faster than him but he had looked like he hated it even more. There had been a moment where Draco almost felt sorry - No, there hadn't been a moment! 

In conclusion _Nowhere_ was the only place he was able to be and wanted to be. When he left the room on said saturday, he forced himself to stop smiling while he made his way from the seventh floor to the Ravenclaw tower. He'd been dreading the start of term because he wouldn't be able to stay in _Nowhere_ all day anymore. Of course _Nobody_ had realised this and had started to tell him jokes. A lot of jokes. Bad ones and good ones but somehow all of them were funny. And Draco had laughed and school had been forgotten. When he climbed the stairs to their dormitory he heard voices behind the door. 

"Isn't that illegal?",  
exclaimed Boot.  
_  
Illegal? Were they doing dark Magic in there?'  
_  
"Who cares?! It's so cool!",  
returned Goldstein.  
_  
That sounded a lot like dark Magic!  
_  
"What tapes do you have?"  
_  
Tapes? What the hell were tapes?  
_  
"Only a few MJ tapes. I think Mum fancies him."  
_  
And who was MJ?  
_  
Confused, he pushed the door open and found his three roommates crouched over something on Corner's bed. It seemed they hadn't even heard him entering the dorm. 

"What are you waiting for, Mikey. Play something."  
_  
'Click'  
_  
Suddenly the room was filled with painful screeching and cracking noises. The four boys covered their ears with their hands which didn't help a lot. Finally Corner reached down with one hand and ended their torture. 

"What the bloody hell was that ?", 

Goldstein asked what Draco was thinking. 

"The school wards probably interfered with the radio connection. Try the tapes, they should be working!" 

"You're probably right, Ter! Wait a second!" 

Again there were some clicking noises before a song started playing. It started off with some weird noises. Then there was a strange instrument playing a melody. Monotonous but somehow really catchy. Soon a voice started singing.  
_  
'As he came into the window  
It was the sound of a crescendo -  
He came into her apartment  
He left the bloodstains on the carpet -'  
_  
It was nothing like any music he had ever listened to before. The first lines didn't even sound like real singing. Draco was just about to turn away when the Refrain came.  
_  
'So, Annie are you okay?  
Are you okay, Annie? -  
Annie are you okay?  
Will you tell us that you're okay? -  
There's a sound at the window  
that he struck you, a crescendo, Annie! -'  
_  
Suddenly he had the urge to hum along to the music. Immediately he shook it off. _'Humming?'_  
Malfoys didn't do that! He went into the bathroom and when he returned another song was playing from a weird silver box, as he could see from this angle. The three boys sitting around that thing were completely absorbed by their conversation and seemed to still haven't noticed him. 

A thought crossed Draco's mind: When they were here that meant that his friends had to be back as well. Like this he left the dorm and walked down towards the Slytherin common room, the catchy melody still stuck inside his head.


	11. New Bonds

Harry couldn't believe it. What did Hagrid think he was doing? I mean, yeah, Dragons were cool. Didn't mean you had to go and hatch a dragon egg. Ron knew a lot about dragons, because of his brother, and he had said, that it was going to grow a lot and it would be dangerous to keep 'Norbert'. But it seemed like the only person Hagrid would ever listen to was Dumbledore and they sure as hell wouldn't rat him out to the headmaster. 

"We have to convince him to set that thing free again",  
said Hermione while helping herself to some pasta.  
Ron, again, knew better. 

"Godric, Hermione! You can't just set a baby dragon free in this area! The creatures in the woods would kill it faster than you can say one of those very complex and long words you love to use. And even if it would survive it will be very dangerous for everyone coming too close. We've got to think of something else." 

With a learned gesture he snatched away the bowl of cheese right under Dean's nose. The others had just returned and were now enjoying their dinner. After two weeks of an empty castle, Harry felt almost claustrophobic at the Gryffindor table, now that everyone was back. 

He looked over at the Slytherin table. Malfoy seemed happier with his friends around him again. Well at least he talked to _them_. The blonde boy hadn't spoken with anyone else since Christmas.  
Harry had failed his self-set task miserably. He had not gotten Draco to talk to him again, instead he had only made it worse - he didn't even know _how?!_

After dinner Harry hurried to return to the Ravenclaw common room to finish some essays they had been assigned to do over the holidays. Maybe if his roommates saw him putting some effort into his potions work, they would change their attitude towards him.  
_  
'I'm a bearer of darkness.  
I'm feared and often hated.  
I'm a symbol of the unwanted,  
An omen that leaves you jaded._

_Some people can predict my coming,  
But then you'll forever see  
Things lurking around corners....  
Are you sure that it was me?'_

Wait _what?!_  
Usually Harry had at least an idea what the answer to the riddle could be and by now he even managed to answer most riddles correctly but _what the hell was this supposed to mean?!_

Cho and her friends turned up and Harry told them the question. 

"Oh, that's easy! It's _'The Grimm'_!" 

Yeah, totally easy. What even was a _'Grimm'_? Well, he could always ask Hermione about it if it ever got important again.

"Thanks." 

When he finally entered the first years' dormitory, he was surprised to see the others sitting around a radio set instead of reading or talking. Not so surprising was the fact that Malfoy was not around. He recognised the song. He'd heared it playing at some public places in the muggle world. Not that this was the kind of music Petunia or Vernon would listen to in their free time, mind you. Trying to start a decent conversation for once he immediately picked up on the topic. 

"Hey, cool radio! Where have you got it from ?" 

Anthony Goldstein looked up at him and answered. 

"Michael got it for Christmas! It would also play wizard-radio but the connection doesn't get through the school wards." 

"Wow, sounds like a great present. Um... who is that singer? I'm pretty sure I've heard the voice before." 

"You don't know Michael Jackson? I thought you're living with muggles?" 

"I do. I guess it's just not their type of music." 

In the meantime Harry had gotten himself his quill, ink and a roll of parchment and was getting comfortable on his bed. For a short time it was quiet and he heard the other boys whispering about something. Then, surprisingly, Terry Boot spoke up. 

"Do you maybe need help with potions?" 

It sounded a bit forced. Probably one of the other two had told him to make the offer. But he was not going to throw that chance away. 

"Yeah, sure. That would be great actually. I'm sick of being laughed at by Snape and Malfoy. But only if you really don't mind, of course. You don't have to do it." 

Something in Terry's expression softened and he walked over to Harry's bed. 

"We're one house. We're a family! Let's go. We'll make these gits shut up." 

Harry's face split into a grin and they got to work.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Draco spent Saturday evening and most of Sunday with Pansy, Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle talking about their holidays (Draco didn't utter a word about his own) and insulting some Gryffindorks. Before returning to the Ravenclaw tower on Sunday evening he went to _Nowhere_ for a couple of hours to finish his schoolwork for the following day and to give _Nobody_ an update on how things were going. 

***  
_  
Draco. DRACO WAKE UP!  
_  
Slowly Draco blinked his eyes open. 

"What..? Why am I here? What time is it?"  
_  
You forgot about time last night. Fell asleep in here at 1AM. I couldn't bring myself to wake you up again, but you're already late for breakfast at the moment. I placed two sandwiches on the table for you.  
_  
Draco took a look on his own watch now. 

"Salazar, if I don't hurry up, I'm gonna be late for potions! Thanks!" 

He took the sandwiches and put on his robes before jumping towards the door.  
_  
Don't forget your wand, boy!  
_  
"Thanks!" 

He ran back to the table to grab his wand and sprinted out of the room and through the corridors while hurriedly eating down his breakfast. When he arrived at the potions classroom, the Hufflepuff girl was already waiting for him. Except for her, the corridor was empty, luckily. She gave him a sceptical glance leaning her brown-haired head to the right. 

"What time?" 

Draco was confused. What did she - 

"You look tired." 

Oh. He contemplated the thought to just ignore her question and tell her, it was none of her business - it wasn't, after all - but she was right. He was tired. Too tired to stand up against her. 

"1 am" 

Her gaze rose a bit. 

"Your hair. I guess you wouldn't want anyone else to see you like this." 

What? _Oh shit!_ His eyes widened and he looked over his shoulder to make sure no one was coming. 

"Wait, let me take care of it." 

She raised her wand and Draco hadn’t had the power to complain. He still mistrusted her magical hairstyling abilities a bit, though.  
When she had finished she smiled at him and reached into the pocket of her robes. Out she pulled a small pocket mirror and held it out to him. 

"Here, take a look!" 

It was perfect. To his surprise she had managed to make his platinum blonde hair look exactly the way he was always wearing it. Not daring to give more of himself away to a muggle-born Hufflepuff, he gave her a grateful smile before facing away. She seemed to understand his intentions, though, because during the following lesson when he almost ruined the potion due to his fatigue, she took over and finished the potion on her own with perfect precision. From then on it became kind of their thing: Whenever one of them was late or looked tired, the other would ask, 

"what time?" 

or only throw a questioning glance at them and then receive an answer by a few raised fingers. They wouldn't exchange any more words (though she kept babbling about random things while she was working). They would only help each other out in potions. They were certainly not friends. First of all, he didn't even know her name, only that her last name was Langdorn because that was what Professor Snape called her. And secondly, his father would not at all approve of that and there was no doubt that he would find out if either Severus or any other Slytherin would catch on to that relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credit for the riddle goes to d.e.a.t.h.l.y_h.a.l.l.o.w.s on Instagram! Gotta love that girl.


	12. Astronomy

The next weeks Harry spent a lot of time with Terry, Michael and Anthony, as well as Cho Chang. Terry continued helping him in potions which forced Snape to give him at least acceptable grades and lead to Malfoy having one reason less to insult and laugh at him. Malfoy did this a lot lately. But at the moment Harry had more important stuff on his mind. Norbert the baby dragon had grown so much, that he, Ron and Hermione had started trying to avoid visiting Hagrid's hut as often as possible because they feared to leave it with singed hair. They had come to the conclusion, that it was best to somehow get that dragon to Ron's brother Charlie in Romania. Now the only problem was to make Hagrid agree with them. While it was Harry and Ron's job to convince him on that matter, Hermione was busy with studying for the end of year exams -yeah, she had already started with that- and with doing research on the philosopher's stone.  
She had finally found a book with information on Nicolas Flamel and they all agreed that that stone is what Fluffy was guarding. A stone with the power to make someone immortal and to transform any metal into pure gold. With all that information, why should she still do research?  
To find another connection between the stone and Snape, of course. She couldn't believe that all he was after was _money_ and _immortality_ , after all he didn't seem to be a person who was enjoying their life. She hadn't found anything, yet. Neither had the two boys been successful. 

"Come on boys! Can it really be _that hard_ to make him let go of that _monster_?" 

Hermione was whisper shouting at them while finishing her illustration of _Gemini_ by naming the dots representing stars. They now had their Astronomy lessons right after dinner at 7pm when it was already completely dark outside to make use of what they had learned in their theory lessons. Their assignment was to copy down one of the constellations they could make out in the night sky above them and to label everything correctly. Hermione was already finished at this point, ten minutes into the lesson, which earned her ten points for Gryffindor. Ron and Harry had only just started off with some dots of ink seemingly randomly placed all over their parchment. They weren't as skilled in multitasking as Hermione was and this conversation was pretty important in their opinion. 

"You try and convince him then, 'Mione! You've already read through the whole library twice and couldn't find any new connections anyways." 

Hermione sighed.  
"You're probably right." 

Ron looked surprised. That wasn't a sentence you heard on a regular basis out of that mouth. 

"I'll join you tomorrow when you visit him again. Maybe after all Snape hasn't got anything to do with this." 

Professor Sinistra glared at them and made a shushing noise. In order not to lose her house points again Hermione stopped talking and instead pulled Harry and Ron's works towards her to finish them as well. Now bored, Harry let his gaze wander over the rest of his classmates.  
Padma Patil, his potions partner, was sitting huddled in a corner with Parvati, her twin from Gryffindor, and Lavender Brown, Parvati's best friend. As always they were gossiping and giggling about something. To their right there were Anthony, Terry and Michael, working on their assignments but throwing annoyed glances towards the girls group every now and then. Next to them there was a lost looking Gryffindor boy, Harry recognised him as the boy who had lost his toad on the train, Neville Longbottom. According to Ron, he lived with his Grandmother and wasn't a very skilled wizard even though he was a pureblood. There had also been a story about Neville being pushed out of a window by his own grandpa but Harry couldn't quite remember. About two meters further the other two Gryffindor boys were working on their assignment together but were also occasionally making small balls of parchment fly into Professor Sinistra's long curly hair (with a bit of wand work of course) where it looked like snow flakes in that deep black mane. To Harry's left the remaining Ravenclaw girls were working on their sheets pretty eagerly. They were Lisa Turpin, Su Li and Mandy Brocklehurst. 

Finally his eyes landed upon Malfoy who was sitting alone with an empty parchment in front of him, staring right back at Harry. 

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Somehow Draco's thoughts had drifted off. He hated the subject. Back when he was little his mother had shown him the star sign that he was named after. _  
Draco._  
He had looked at it every night possible and knew the position of every single star within the dragon by heart. He could easily sketch it onto the parchment in the last five minutes if necessary. Yeah, he had loved the stars. He still did. But he hated the theory stuff. And it reminded him of his family and he hated to think about them at the moment. He hated to remember that they didn't want him home anymore. So he had left his assignment unattended and somehow his eyes had automatically landed on H- _Potter_. It got harder and harder with every day to offend him and he was already running out of insults.  
He hated that - _him_! 

As the black haired boy turned his head and laid his bespectacled, shining green eyes on him he felt blood shooting into his head, especially his cheeks - in anger of course! When Draco rapidly turned his head down a fuzzy feeling was left behind and he sensed something squirming in his stomach. Maybe he was just getting sick. Similar things had happened a lot recently. Maybe Potter had hexed him. Or slipped him a potion. He should probably go and see Madam Pomfrey about it. 

But he didn't.  
Instead he found himself in the seventh floor again, after the lesson had ended, knocking on the wooden door across from the tapestry with some stupid dancing trolls. The door swung open soundlessly and Draco entered _Nowhere_ , not caring about how close to curfew it was. A cup of peppermint tea was awaiting him on the table and he sat down on the couch in front of it while the door fell shut behind him. _Nobody_ only spoke up when he'd taken a first sip of the tasteful hot water.  
_  
What's the matter now, Draco? You seem more upset and confused than usually today!  
_  
"I think I might have been hexed or poisoned."  
_  
Really? What makes you think that?  
_  
"I always get that fuzzy feeling, my face gets very hot and there's something in my stomach. I'm pretty sure it was Potter. It mostly happens around him." 

_Nobody_ laughed. They literally just _laughed_. 

"What are you laughing at?"  
_  
My sweet boy. You'll know when you find out. It's not up to me to tell you what you feel.  
_  
What the _Salazar_ were they talking about? 

"What I _feel?_ What is _that_ supposed to mean?"  
_  
I told you: You'll find out!_

_You'll find out._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s on singular they/them pronouns. If Draco can do it, so can you!


	13. Caught

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: mention of child abuse/depiction of violence in this chapter (the cursive part starting from “Crucio!”) stay safe everyone!

Weeks went by and still Draco didn't get rid of these stupid _“feelings“_ or whatever. He actually was a bit mad at _Nobody_ for not telling him what that meant - they clearly knew something! - and therefore hadn't been visiting the room since that night. Instead he'd been spending more time with Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy and Blaise and sometimes also could be found reading in his dorm. He would never read in the Ravenclaw common room, the others would probably try and _socialize_ with him, and that was definitely not what he wanted. 

It had gotten a bit of a habit of Draco's to always keep an eye on Potter. In every situation. If that Scarface was actually poisoning or hexing him, it had to wear off after some time. Then he'd have to renew it and Draco would be watching out for every sign that he tried to do so.  
He was currently lying on his bed, reading, while every now and then throwing a glance at Har- Potter. The black-haired boy seemed pretty nervous. He was always looking at his rather old and ugly watch, obviously waiting for something. Suddenly he jumped to his feet, pulling something out of his trunk. Then Draco recognized the silver material. It was the invisibility cloak Harry had gotten for Christmas. Draco almost smiled in memory of that morning but soon enough he remembered in what it had ended and got angry at Potter again. 

He knew it was a stupid idea:  
following someone wearing an invisibility cloak especially so close to curfew. 

He did it anyway.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Their plan went pretty fine.  
After Norbert had attacked Fang, Hagrid had agreed to let Charlie Weasley escort the dragon to Romania. Then Hermione had started planning. Charlie and a few of his most trusted colleagues would be coming on brooms and arrive at midnight of the following Saturday, on the highest tower, the Astronomy tower. On the grounds they'd be too easy to spot, so they had decided on this location instead. Their only problem now was to walk a literal dragon through the whole school building, up to the tower - unseen!  
Well, the 'unseen' part had an obvious answer: Harry's invisibility cloak. 

At 11PM on the appointed day Harry and Hermione were knocking on Hagrids door who opened it teary eyed. Ron had had to stay behind because the cloak would never be able to cover the three of them _and_ a dragon; It was Harry's cloak and Hermione was most likely to get them out of a tricky situation if one of that kind would turn up.  
Thankfully it didn't. It only took them a lot of time to drag Norbert up all those stairs. Hagrid had given it something to calm down which caused the dragon to shuffle sleepily all the way. It almost tripped over the last step on the seventh floor's staircase, right under a singing and giggling Peeves who was writing swearwords onto the ceiling in black ink. 

About an hour later they had finally made it to the top of the Astronomy tower where Harry took the invisibility cloak off of them and walked over to the edge to look out for a group of wizards flying towards them. He spotted them right above the forbidden forest.  
The exchange went perfectly well; but then everything went wrong.  
When Hermione and Harry had reached the bottom of the stairs they suddenly heard voices. 

"Longbottom! What is your fat arse doing out here after curfew? Professor Snape will have a field day when I tell him about it and he will take loads of points from Gryffindor for it!"

"No, Malfoy, please! I just wanted to make them come back!"

"Aww... never earned so much as a single point for your house, did you, dumbass?!"  
_  
What the hell were these two doing here? How did they find them?_  
Harry reached into his robe pocket searching for the smooth fabric but apparently he had left the invisibility cloak on the tower. When he pulled his hand out of the pocket again, a Knut got drawn out with it and fell to the floor, soundly bouncing up and down a few times before stirring to a halt in the middle of the corridor.  
The two fighting boys turned to look at what had caused the sound and about two seconds later the blonde one was eye to eye with Harry. 

"Hah! Got you, Potter! So what have you been doing up there?"  
His glare landed on Hermione next.  
"Snogging your girlfriend?!"

"Oh, bugger off Malfoy! This is none of your business! Do you even realise that if I lose house points it's also your house that loses the points? Let's just get back to our dorms before we all get caught!"

It was too late; Professor McGonagall and Snape turned into the corridor and immediately spotted them. The four of them all ended up with detention on Friday evening and 100 points were taken from each Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Then McGonagall took Hermione and Neville back to Gryffindor tower while Snape walked with Harry and Malfoy. Harry couldn't help but wonder whatever was wrong with Draco Malfoy. Sure, after Christmas he had returned to his previous arrogant-pureblood-self but following him outside after curfew? It didn't sound like him at all! 

"Mr. Malfoy, you're father will not at all be pleased to hear about this. I expect you to make sure this will never happen again." 

With these words Snape left them standing in front of the bronze door knocker.  
_  
'We hurt without moving.  
We poison without touching.  
We bear the truth and the lies.  
We are not to be judged by our size.  
What are we?'_

But it seemed like neither of them were feeling like answering. Anger was boiling inside Harry and he turned towards Malfoy, ready to question him about why the hell he'd been following him, but when he found the other boy pale and staring blankly at the door knocker he just couldn't.  
Once again he remembered the day when the screaming letter had arrived.  
_  
"I warn you not to step out of line again,"  
_  
resonated Mr Malfoys cold voice in his head. And somehow forgetting how Malfoy had treated him in the past few months he wanted to comfort him. To tell him it was going to be alright. 

"Will he tell your father? Snape?" 

The blond's head snapped towards him, sporting a surprised expression. When he opened his mouth the words escaped as a whisper. 

"Probably not." 

Then something seemed to jump into place inside him because suddenly the perfect mask reappeared on his face and he said, 

" _'Words!'_ " 

The door swung open and without any further exchange of words they went to bed.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :  
_  
"Crucio!"_

_His body was exploding in pain. Agony filling his limbs coming from no real source. It was just there, tearing him apart, cutting and stabbing his flesh, making everything too hot and too cold at the same time, burning his skin, draining all the oxygen from his lungs...  
Somehow he managed to scream._

_"No, father, stop! Please! I'm sorry!"_

_"Malfoys don't apologize!"_

_Lucius raised his wand again.  
_  
"Malfoy! MALFOY!"  
_  
Someone touched his arm and he jerked away. Another wave of pain shot through his body and the utter darkness was pressing onto him.  
_  
"Malfoy! Wake up! M-DRACO!" 

Suddenly he was sitting upright on his bed, panting, eyes wide open, pupils blown wide, drenched in sweet. It had just been a dream. Just a nightmare. Not real. He didn't move. Just kept sitting there repeating it all over in his head.  
_  
Not real!  
_  
"A- Are you alright?" 

It was then, when Harry had spoken, that he realised that he was surrounded by all four of his roommates. Staring at him in shock, with white faces. Feeling exposed he snapped, 

"Quit staring, it's none of your business!" 

He almost flinched at the shaky sound of his own voice.  
He made a fast decision and without even doing so much as changing his clothes he was off.  
Off to _Nowhere_. 

Seeing the darkness in the common room it still must be nighttime or sometime before dawn. Even though his thoughts were still pretty occupied with what had just happened, he paid attention on his way to the seventh floor. He couldn't be caught out after curfew twice in the same night. He took the silver-grey ring in his left hand and let it fall against the light brown wood of the door. At the collision it opened soundlessly. On the couch table a mug of steaming hot chocolate was awaiting him. He sat down and drank it in silence. Then he placed it back to where it had stood and it vanished. 

"He only used it on me once. I wanted him to play with me and ran into his office. I broke this weird and dark looking box and he got so angry. I don't even know why, there was only a book in it. And from what I saw when I was trying to pick it up there wasn't even a single word written in it. But he got so damn angry and he lost control." 

Draco was shaking like a leaf but this time he wasn't crying. He was sick of tears. He was not weak. And he made a silent vow to himself to never cry again. 

"I was 5. Mother brought him back to his senses and he never did it again. But what if he will now?! When he finds out I broke the rules... I shouldn't have been following Harry. I knew I shouldn't."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again: Credit for the riddle goes to d.e.a.t.h.l.y_h.a.l.l.o.w.s on Instagram!


	14. Detention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: another bad attempt at writing Hagrid’s accent lmao

The following week Draco kept to an ideal plan: no rule breaking, insulting Harry and his friends as often as possible, not talking to anyone except his Slytherin friends.  
This included completely ignoring his potions partner as she asked,  
"what time?"  
on Monday morning. Her disappointed expression made his heart clench but he would NOT budge this time. He wanted to prove that he was the rightful Malfoy heir.  
Even though he still was a bit angry at _Nobody_ he went back to visiting _Nowhere_ on a regular basis because it helped him getting adjusted with the current situation.

Rumours had spread as to why exactly Gryffindor as well as Ravenclaw had lost a total amount of 100 points in one night. The suggestions were wild and not anywhere near the truth but this Friday at the latest they would at least know who was guilty.  
While their roommates had seemed to have gotten rather friendly with Harry before the fateful night they were pretty much ignoring them both as they left for their detention. Filch and the two Gryffindorks were awaiting them at the huge front doors. Dreading what he would hear for an answer he put on his best sneer and snarled, 

"So, what is this mysterious punishment for which we have to meet up in the entrance hall?" 

Granger, Longbottom and Potter seemed a bit curious themselves about what was to come. Also Filch looked way too happy today. He even showed his yellowish teeth in what was probably supposed to be a grin but the expression was really more frightening than anything else. 

"You will fulfil your assignment with Hagrid." 

Harry and Hermione's faces relaxed as they shared a glance. 

"In the forest." 

__All four of them were now staring at Filch unbelievingly._ _

__"Come on little children. You won't return until you've finished your task. If you don't hurry up you might have to stay in the woods until midnight."_ _

__Still in shock they started to move towards the oaf's hut._ _

__"But, Mr. Filch, Sir, the forest is forbidden for students. There are dangerous creatures in there. Surely the teachers..." The Mudblood started to argue but was soon interrupted by the caretaker._ _

__"Forbidden, hah. Not on this occasion. There were times when..." and he started drawling on about the punishments he once had been allowed to give with a scary sound of longing in his voice._ _

He only stopped when they had eventually arrived at the ground keeper's so called _'house'_. The usually rather cheerful big man (well, Draco wasn't even sure that he was an _actual human_ ) looked rather sad but told them what they had to be careful about and stuff on their way towards the trees anyway. 

__"We're lookin' fer a unicorn. Injured or worse, see tha'?"  
The oaf pointed towards the ground where a pool of silver liquid shimmered in the light of his gas lamp.  
"Tha's unicorn blood. And a whole lot of it. Let's hope we'll find the poor thing before it's ter late." _ _

__With that he walked right into the depths of the woods and the students had no choice but to follow him._ _

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 

__They had walked for what felt like half an hour when suddenly a creature turned up. It was a centaur. Hagrid called him Bane. Bane was a pretty unfriendly centaur for what it seemed like, but maybe all centaurs just hated wizards. After that encounter they split up. And of course Harry had to end up with Malfoy and Fang, the dog, while Hermione, Neville and Hagrid were the other group._ _

They didn't talk, although Harry always had this one question lying on his lips. _  
'Why did you follow me?'_  
He didn't ask it though. He didn't dare to remind the other boy of that night, it must've had awoken bad memories or so he guessed from the nightmare his roommate had had afterwards.  
After another ten minutes of silent walking there was a sudden noise to their right. Malfoy jumped and before Harry had registered it the last glimpse of white blonde hair had disappeared in the shadows of the nearby trees, the dog right behind.  
Harry on the other hand, held the lamp higher and walked towards the place where the sound had come from. After about 20 steps in that direction he heard low voices which caused him to dim the light of the lamp with his cloak in order not to be seen.  
_**  
(A/N: the underlined parts are 100% copied from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone)**_  
"... don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet here of all p-places, Severus ..."

__ "Oh, I thought we'd keep this private. Students aren't supposed to know about the Philosopher's Stone, after all." _ _

__It was Snape and Professor Quirrell. Looked like they had been right about Snape trying to get the stone but what had Quirrell got to do with it? The next sentence was inaudible, then Snape's voice got more pressing.  
  
"Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?"  
  
Quirrell stuttered something and Snape snapped, threatening him. The next part of the conversation Harry missed because when he shifted his weight a bit, a branch snapped under his foot and he froze in fear that the teachers had heard it. Luckily they didn't, or at least they didn't acknowledge it._ _

__"I know what you are doing! We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie."_ _

__And they were gone._ _

__The words still kept spinning inside Harry's head while he made his way back to where he left the path and sped up his pace to find Malfoy and Fang again._ _

" _Where have you been?!_ " 

__Harry blinked in surprise; Malfoy's voice was trembling with fear._ _

__"I just..."_ _

But the other boy interrupted him immediately.  
"You know, we've got this _one_ lamp to share. You _can't_ just leave me alone in the dark. They say there are _werewolves_ in this forest! And what's with the thing that attacked the unicorn?! You'll never do this again, do you hear me?! _Never_!" 

__Still shocked, Harry gulped and nodded his head. There had been so much authority and importance in his voice - and fear - that he hadn't even considered refusing his command. Still he felt like Malfoy had left something out. Something he had feared when he'd been alone but he didn't want Harry to know._ _

__"Let's finish this task, i wanna get out of here!"_ _

__And the typical mask was on again. All feelings hidden. Arrogance and pride the only things on the surface. They kept walking in silence, this time because Harry's mind was occupied by other things. He just couldn't wrap his head around how Quirrell would be involved with all this stuff. Were they working together? Didn't really sound like it. Maybe Snape was forcing Quirrell to help him. But why would he do that?_ _

__They walked and walked for what felt like hours, not once exchanging a word.  
And then they saw it; A white-silvery animal lying on the ground - and a black hooded figure crouched over it. He could hear Malfoy's breath hitch beside him, who had started to slowly walk away backwards; Fang had already ran away. When he realised that Harry didn't move to follow him he grabbed his upper arm and whisper shouted, _ _

__"Potter! Don't act stupid now! We've got to go!"_ _

__But Harry didn't move; the hooded figure rose to its feet and a head splitting pain shot through the lightning scar. Paralysed and blinded by the sensation he stood still until Malfoy pulled him backwards and made him stumble._ _

"Harry! _Move!_ " 

__Somehow this and the fact that the figure was now flying towards them caused Harry to move. They ran, ran for their lives and didn't stop before they collided with something huge and solid but somehow furry and soft. They looked up and saw Hagrid. Fang, Hermione and Neville stood behind him._ _

__"It's there, right behind the big clearing! It's dead, I think, and... and something was feeding off it!"  
It was Harry who had spoken, Malfoy didn't really look ready to open his mouth again. _ _

__"Then we can't do anything to help it. I just hope there won't be any more cases like this. C'mon. Let's get you lot into bed."_ _

And they made their way back to the school. Harry urged to tell Ron and Hermione what exactly he had seen and heard - especially the encounter between Snape and Quirrel - but he didn't get his chance this evening. He didn't want Hagrid, Neville or Draco to overhear them and there was no way they wouldn't hear them talking in the silence of the night. The way to the Ravenclaw tower was awkward. And with awkward he meant _very awkward_. At some point they would have to talk about everything or it would get way too hard to carry on like they did before. Maybe the week of Easter holidays would bring something new. 

__: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :_ _

Again Draco had lost control over his image. And again it had been Potter's fault. Why was it that those things always happened around _him?_ This boy was unbelievable! Just leaving him alone in the dark with a cowardish dog to do... what exactly?  
What had The Boy Who Lived actually done again?  
This stupid annoying prat! He should have let him face this scary creature on his own. Shouldn't have saved him.  
_  
'Wrong'.  
_  
The voice in his head sounded a lot like _Nobody_. And it was right. He owed Harry his life. At least they were equal now. But deep down Draco knew he would have saved him anyway. And he also knew he shouldn't feel like this. He went to bed thinking about this. Tomorrow he would get home. He'd finally see his parents again. Pushing away the nagging thought that they maybe wouldn't want him home at all he closed his eyes and fell asleep. 


	15. Investigating

The train left at 11am with Draco on it.  
He shared a compartment with the Slytherins: Theo, Pansy, Goyle, Blaise and Crabbe.  
Potter had stayed behind again.  
Of course! So would Draco if he had to live with a bunch of muggles!  
_  
Don't get sympathetic now, Draco!  
_  
Luckily yesterday's detention story hadn't spread amongst the students yet and Draco had hopes that it would stay like this. He and his father had always been close and Lucius relied on him. He didn't want to disappoint him any more than he'd already had. Around two hours into the journey they bought a few pumpkin pastries for lunch. They were quite good but nothing against what Dobby would create for him this evening. Maybe he would even get his favorite meal tonight.  
_  
If your parents still like you enough.  
_  
He ignored the voice. He had exchanged a few more letters with his mother since Christmas and she didn't once mention something like that. It would be okay. 

And it was.  
When they arrived on Platform 9 3/4 Draco immediately spotted the white-blonde hair that certainly belonged to his parents. His heart gave a little jump of excitement.  
He had missed them more than expected.  
He had missed them _a lot_.  
Heaving his suitcase off the overhead rack he hurried onto the Platform as fast as possible with this extra weight. But he didn't have to carry it for long; his mother had seen him and hurried forward to enclose her son in a tight and loving embrace. 

"Oh, my angel. My _dragon_. Finally I have you back." 

Draco held onto her tightly, loving the warmth radiating off her body and being afraid to lose it again too soon. When they let go after a few minutes he saw his father standing behind her. He was wearing his 'ministry expression' like always in public but there was a light sparkle to his eyes. It didn't look angry, like Draco had feared, but delighted, and he held Draco's suitcase in his right hand, which the boy had dropped at some point. Relief washed over him and he couldn't help but give Lucius a small smile before turning to say goodbye to his friends. 

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

This time more people had stayed behind, Michael and Cho for example. When Harry was in the Ravenclaw tower he would spent his time with them but most of the holidays he was with Hermione and Ron, wondering about what they should do next.  
About Snape.  
(They decided to not bother about Quirrell for now because he seemed harmless and had probably been dragged into all of this by Snape anyways.)

They had to act;  
they were the only ones who knew and all the teachers seemed to trust their collegue too much. When they had told Hagrid about their theory that Snape was after the Philosopher's stone, he completely overreacted and insisted that Snape would never do that, he had helped to guard it after all. But their research took longer than expected. Hermione was full on in study mode, panicking that every hour she didn't prepare for the examinations would be the one causing her to fail.  
(Harry was sure she would get highest marks without even looking through her notes once but in this state it was impossible to discuss with her.) 

"You should get on with revision as well! Or in the end you might be the ones to fail!"  
Finally they made a deal. Harry and Ron would at least study two hours a day and she would help them with research in the evening. Like this, the week went by pretty fast.  
Without them finding the slightest trace. 

"We should spy on him! We know he definitely is guilty and we need to know it when he acts." 

This clearly showed how desperate they were. 

"What you mean following Snape around? Are you mental, Ron?" 

"What, 'Mione? It's our only chance!" 

"But-" 

"He's kinda right, you know. _No,_ let me finish! Following him around would be too obvious, but we could at least take a look into his office, maybe we'll find something there!" 

"Did you forget that we don't have your cloak anymore?" 

"She's got a point there, Harry..." 

"Oh... I guess I forgot to tell you. I found it in my bed when we returned form detention on saturday." 

And so it was decided that they would take a look into Snapes office. But first they had to work out a plan.

Snapes office was right behind the potions class room, down in the dungeons. They went there right after breakfast on wednesday morning, after they overheard a conversation between Snape and a student, the latter who told him that Dumbledore wanted to talk to the professor. 

As soon as Snape was out of the great hall the trio followed, but instead of going upstairs they made their way down into the dungeons. When they finally were out of everyone's eyesight Harry took out his father's cloak and threw it over their heads. Hidden like this they continued walking through the dark and chilly corridors. The only person who came across their way was a fourth year Slytherin walking in the opposite direction. Probably the Slytherin common room was down there, that would pretty much fit the house's image. Then they arrived at the potions classroom door. It was locked, as they had expected. 

" _Alohomora!_ " 

_’Click’_

A slight push and the door swung open. Quickly they entered and closed the door behind them before pulling off the cloak and crossing the room towards a black, discreet door behind the teacher's desk which would hopefully lead into Snape's office. 

It did.  
They were standing in front of a small, cramped and dark room full of potion ingredients, potions and ancient looking books. In the middle there was a pitch black wooden desk and an equally black cabinet stood next to a black dresser. 

"Seems like Snape is a real emo." 

"What's an _'emo’_?" 

Harry and Hermione shared a grin.  
"Forget it." 

They split up and each of them started searching another corner of the room for any hint that Snape was indeed after the Philosopher's Stone. Minute after minute went by and they weren't able to find anything. Soon Hermione started to get anxious. 

"He's going to be back soon; we should leave now!" 

When they had looked through almost everything they finally agreed with her and left after checking that they hadn't left a trace. But even though they were wearing the invisibility cloak they didn't meet a soul. Neither another Slytherin nor a certain potions master. Right before crossing the entrance hall they took off the cloak and Ron immediately started whisper shouting at Hermione. 

"See? No one's coming. We would've had loads of time. We would've found something!" 

Harry agreed with him and started to argue that they should go back into the office again another day. 

"Are you crazy? What if he still realises that someone's been in there? And why should he leave an evidence for his attempts to get to the stone lying around in his office without any protections? It's not worth the risk! We should rather get more information on that hooded figure. We have to find out why anyone would be killing unicorns like this!" 

And so they went to the library. 

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

_’Crack’_

"How can I assist you, Master Draco, Sir?" 

"Elves can do magic other than house keeping spells, right?" 

Dobby nodded. "Yes, master." 

"How skilled are you at medical assistance?" 

The house elf looked down.  
"Dobby is sorry to say he barely knows the basics." 

"Are you able to perform a simple potions scan? And maybe one for curses and hexes?" 

"Dobby is, Sir!" 

Draco sighed in relief.  
"Then go on. Scan me!" 

"Of course, I will, Sir. But why would anyone want to do this to master Draco?" 

"That's none of your business, servant!"  
Why did this elf have to be so _nosy?!_

"It will help me to identify the potion or curse, master Draco." 

Oh alright.  
"It was Potter. He did something to me that makes me feel weird things and makes me wanna act all _nicely_ around him. I think he did it when we first met at Madam Malkin's." 

"Harry Potter?" 

Draco's heart clenched.  
" _Don't_ say his name!" 

"And the boy from Madam Malkins. Didn't you call him 'cute'?" 

"That's enough. I told you: I believe he somehow had already cursed me at that point! Now get to work!" 

"Of course, master Draco, Sir. Dobby didn't have the right. Please forgive Dobby for being so impolite." 

The elf bowed deep before snipping his fingers thrice with a few seconds of silence in between. 

"Nothing, Sir. Master Draco had not been influenced by any curses, hexes or potions." 

"What?! But how-?!"

"Dobby can't help you answering this question, Sir. Dobby has to get back to the kitchen to prepare dinner, Sir." 

"You may go. But you will never mention this around _anyone_ , do you understand?" 

"Of course, master Draco, Sir. Dobby's lips are sealed." 

And with a loud _’Crack’_ the elf was gone. 

Gulping down the feeling of desperation Draco stood up from his desk chair and paced around his room. Dobby had been his last resort to find out what had happened to him and the elf had agreed with _Nobody_. 

_'You have to find out yourself'_

Yeah, thanks a lot.  
Figuring this out would take _ages_! A small bell rang to his right. Dinner was ready. Taking a last deep breath Draco left his room and went down a flight of stairs. When he arrived in the dining room his parents were already awaiting him. 

"Come, Draco, my dear. We want to discuss something." 

For a second the boy got anxious, fearing that maybe his father had found out about his rule breaking at hogwarts, but his mother's smile reassuerd him that it was nothing of that sort. As soon as their child set among them, Lucius started talking. 

"The Goyles will visit us tomorrow. I heard you were still holding close contact to Gregory and the others, despite the... _unfortunate mistake_ at your sorting. I expect you to behave perfectly in front of them and prove, that you still are worthy of the Malfoy name." 

"Yes, father." 

***

When Draco awoke on the next morning a new robe was placed upon his dresser. It wasn't a dress robe, it looked more like the robes Lucius was wearing for work. He put it on, knowing that his father would not have him wearing something else, and found that he liked it on himself. It gave him a look of _authority_ ; it made him look _stronger_ and somehow _powerful_. Exactly what he needed. An outfit like this made it so much easier to fulfil his father's expectations. 

The Goyle family arrived soon after and Draco was able to return to his own room with Greg as their fathers had disappeared into Lucius' office to discuss some 'serious matters' and Narcissa had involved Mrs. Goyle in an animated exchange of gossip over a cup of tea. The visitors stayed until after dinner and everything went perfectly well: 

Draco had finally found his old self again.


	16. Books and Notes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some Ravenclaw interaction in this one. Sort of.

"Come here, guys, I found something." 

Ron and Harry immediately came hurrying towards their friend. 

"What is it, 'Mione?" 

She was sitting on the floor, books surrounding her, one of them lying open in her lap. Without looking up at the boys she started reading the interesting passage out loud. 

" _' The Blood of the unicorn has an especially dubious power: If one might go as far as to drink the silvery liquid running through the beautiful creature's veins, they will be able to live forever. But, sinners, be warned: whoever is committing a crime like this will be severely punished. A life lasting curse will be cast upon you the second the blood covers your lips and you will never be able to live happily ever again! '_ " 

"Wow, that sounds like some dark shit..."  
Ron huffed out, sounding rather impressed. 

After a short silence Harry spoke up,  
"But who would want something like this?" 

"Well, isn't it obvious?",  
Hermione said.  
"It's _You-Know-Who_! He's trying to gain his powers back! That's why Snape wants the stone! He wants to give it to him!" 

"I don't know, sounds a little far fetched, doesn't it?"  
But neither Hermione nor Ron seemed to have listened. 

Hermione out of enthusiasm about what she just found out and Ron out of panic. 

"But that means if we want to stop Snape we'd be working against _You-Know-Who_! Godric, he will kill us! We're dead!" 

"Calm down Ronald. He won't get into this school. Dumbledore is here, and everyone knows that Dumbledore is the one wizard whom _You-Know-Who_ always feared." 

The last question they were now facing was, how they ever would be able to stop Snape from getting that stone. They wrecked their minds over it but Ron was only whining about how he needed food because he would be starving so they called it a day, went to dinner and split up afterwards, everyone heading for their respective common room.  
_  
'What has roots that nobody sees,  
Is taller than trees,  
Up, up it goes,  
Yet it never grows?'  
_

"Umm, oh! _'Mountains'_!",  
Harry answered immediately. 

He'd gotten quite used to the way these riddles worked and barely struggled with them anymore. 

"Hey, Harry. Come over here!"  
Marietta, Cho's best friend, had spotted him and indicated to him to join them, where the two of them were sitting on a sky-blue love seat. 

Leaving every thought of Snape and Voldemort behind, Harry followed. 

"Hey!" 

Between the girls there were lying some notes, written in beautiful handwriting, and some ancient looking books were open on their laps, reminding him of Hermione when she was doing homework. Yet what they did didn't look like homework at all. 

"What is it you're working on?" 

Marietta looked like she'd been waiting for him to ask that question all along. 

"Tell him, Cho!" 

Cho smiled up at Harry, looking excited as well but in a more shy way. She was indeed a very beautiful girl. 

"We're trying to create a spell that makes you have crush on somebody. We've just had a breakthrough, we only have to try it on someone." 

Harry was confused. 

"What is a crush?" 

Marietta looked like she was about to tear up. 

"Aww, Cho, he's so _innocent_. He's just perfect!" 

Then, as if she just remembered his question she added,  
"A crush is when you fancy someone." 

Harry blushed. 

"Oh!" 

He should've guessed that. Cho was next to address him. 

"Um... Harry, would you maybe like to assist us with this?" 

Not really having a chance to talk himself out of it, he agreed. 

"So, what exactly am I supposed to do?" 

Marietta was literally jumping from excitement and the words were just bubbling out of her mouth. 

"Perfect! Okay, so you just have to stand still. Oh, no, wait, you better sit maybe." 

She stood up and pushed Harry onto the seat instead. 

"Okay, now just lean back and try to stay still and relax. Oh, yeah. And you're supposed to have your gaze fixed on..." 

She let her eyes wander over the people in the room. Then she suddenly pointed at a blonde second year who was reading a book while sitting on one of the window sills. 

" _Her_. She's perfect! So cute! Okay, come on, Cho. Let's do this!" 

She grabbed her friend's arm and pulled her into a standing position. Harry was now getting a bit nervous and looked at Cho, hoping to receive a logical and truthful answer from her. 

"Are you sure this spell will work like it is supposed to? Nothing can happen?" 

But it was to late. Marietta had already cast the spell and everything inside Harry started to feel all fuzzy. He wanted to glare at her but realised he couldn't take his eyes off Cho. She was just so... _stunningly beautiful_. Her brown eyes and this shiny, black hair. So straight and sleek. Harry felt himself make a move to touch it. It felt as wonderful as it looked! 

"Oops. You should've listened to me, Harry, sweetie! But, well, the spell will probably wear off in a few hours." 

Harry heard the words only faintly, still too absorbed by Cho's beauty. 

"We did it, Cho, we did it." 

"Yeah, I'm going to bring him up to his dorm." 

Oh and her voice. It was like angels singing a symphony. Like pure magic. Something was squirming in Harry's stomach when Cho grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the boy's staircase. Before he had caught on to what was happening she had pushed him inside his dormitory with a muttered "sorry" and closed the door behind him. 

"Harry?" 

Someone was saying his name but he didn't care because it wasn't Cho. Then someone appeared right in front of him. 

"Harry?",  
asked Michael again.  
"Oh my god, what did they do to you. You look like they gave you amortentia! Merlin, hopefully they haven't. Come on, lie down a bit. Maybe that'll help." 

Soon he was tucked in soft sheets and he didn't know when exactly but he drifted off into dream filled slumber. Dreams of sleek black hair and soft skin touching his hand. 

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

When he returned to Hogwarts Draco had finally found new confidence and pride in his family name again. That he still couldn't stop thinking about stupid Potter made him really mad but it was nothing that could make him budge again. It kind of helped to rant about it to Dobby. The house elf worked surprisingly well as replacement for _Nobody_. And he most certainly did not feel bad when he insulted Langdorn (Ugh, that name practically _screamed_ mudblood!) as she came across the Slytherin compartment on the Hogwarts Express. The only thing he felt was disgust and hatred. 

At dinner Draco avoided looking over to the Gryffindor table with all might and concentrated hard on the conversation he was having with his friends, determined to not let his thoughts drift off. 

"...and the end of year exams are coming up soon!"

"Do you think they'll be easy?" 

"Of course they will. And if I fail something my father will pull some strips at the ministry and I'll be fine. He's more or less the minister's right hand at the moment. Fudge even trusted him with some top secret business which he had to attend to over Christmas. I asked him if I could help but sadly that couldn't be arranged so I had to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays. But he promised if there was a chance coming up in the future I will definitely be a part of the operation." 

Pansy screeched.  
"Wow, Draco, that's _so cool!_ " 

Crabbe and Goyle immediately believed his story as well. Only Blaise shot him a weird glance but the expression disappeared when Draco pulled off his trademark smirk. 

Yup, the old Draco was officially back now.  
And he loved it.


	17. All Night Long

Exams were finally over and Draco was pretty sure he did very well in all of them. Well, except for astronomy maybe but who cares for that nonsense? He had also managed to treat Potter and his friends the way his father would approve of even though every insult that came back from _the Boy Who Lived to be Stupid_ caused an uncomfortable twist in his chest. 

Because of that he visited _Nowhere_ on a regular basis and damn, talking about it did help a lot (even though it was annoying that _Nobody_ still didn't want to tell him what... you know...).  
What was a lot harder to deal with were these stupid _muggle songs_ his roommates wouldn't quit listening to! And by now they even kept playing over and over inside his head as well! And as he knew them by heart because he'd heard the same stupid songs so often (no he did not like them, thank you very much) he was tempted to _sing_ them out loud! Once he had caught himself really actually doing just that while taking a shower and almost banged his head against the nearest wall to punish himself like a house elf. Yes, that was how pathetic he felt. 

Malfoy's did not _'sing'_! Neither did they _hum_ or _cry_ or _hug_ their godfather in a school corridor.   
A boy like this wouldn't be worthy of the Malfoy name! 

Draco Lucius Malfoy would never betray his name ever again.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

"What do you mean, we can't talk to him?"

McGonagall sighed.  
"He's not in the castle."

"Then bring him here!"  
Ron shouted.

" _Mr. Weasley!_ Where have you left your manners?"

But Ron just ignored the professor.  
"It is very urgent!"

"I'm very sorry but Professor Dumbledore just received a letter from the minister this morning, summoning him to the ministry. May _I_ possibly be able to help you with that _urgent_ matter?" 

The three friends shared a look. They had just found out that Snape or whoever it was knew how to get past the three headed dog. Apparently the mysterious stranger who gave Hagrid the dragon egg had asked him some questions about Fluffy in return. The only chance to save the stone was if Dumbledore placed it somewhere else. But now that he was gone... 

Ron and Hermione gave him a nod each and Harry spoke,   
"we know about the Philosopher's stone."

McGonagall's eyes widened and she scrunched her eyebrows in confusion.  
"How would you know of such a thing?"

"That doesn't matter right now,"  
Ron blurted out,  
"Snape is trying to steal it!"

" _Enough!_ I really don't want to know where you got that from but _Professor_ Snape will most definitely not try and steal the stone! He has our headmaster's trust and I'm standing behind that decision as well. Now if you would please return to your common rooms, I have exams to grade."

"But-"  
Hermione started to protest but McGonagall shushed her.

"No buts. _Out!_ "

They left, disappointed. _  
What now?_  
They were just outside the office when they bumped right into Snape. Just what they had needed in this moment. The potions master said something but Harry couldn't hear a word as he was suddenly boiling with hot _anger_.   
_  
Anger_ so strong that it overtook all his senses. _  
Anger_ at McGonagall. _  
Anger_ at Dumbledore. _  
Anger_ at Snape. _  
Anger_ about the fact that he had to return to the Dursleys soon even though he hadn't wasted a single thought on them in very long. 

He had the strong urge to punch something and almost hit Hermione right into her face when she put her hand onto his shoulder.

"Harry? Harry?! Are you alright?"

Finally his mind slipped back to reality and his sight became clear again. Before daring to talk, he took a deep, shuddering breath and closed his eyes for a second. Then he spoke up.

"Let's go outside and make a plan."

Ron looked at him, dumbfounded.  
"For what do we need a plan?"

"To get to the stone before Snape does,"  
Hermione realised.

Harry nodded in agreement.  
"Exactly."

And they went outside and settled down next to a huge tree by the lake and they planned.   
Because one thing was sure: 

It had to happen tonight.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :  
 _  
"Umpf"  
_  
"Sneaking around past curfew again, are you, Potter?"  
Draco smirked after the invisible boy knowingly, who's steps could be heard faintly, running down the spinal staircase. 

He would've told Flitwick about it but then again he'd been out past curfew himself _AND_ they were in the same house after all and he didn't want to lose Ravenclaw twice the amount of points they would lose if Potter got himself caught on his own.   
Draco walked through the door which the other boy had left open in his hurry and entered the almost deserted common room. He received a few glares for being out that late and risking their well earned house points but he just ignored them and made his way up to their dorm. 

Draco had spent his evening with Crabbe and Goyle in the Slytherin common room. Maybe they were a bit stupid ( _understatement_ ) but at least they didn't question what he was saying like Blaise sometimes did. The dark skinned boy had been sitting in the corner of the same room with Theo Nott, occasionally throwing weird glances at the three of them. After quite some time the portrait hole had opened to reveal Pansy and Daphne Greengrass. When they had spotted Draco in the Center of attention, the latter had scrunched her nose and excused herself to bed while the former girl had joined their group excitedly. In the beginning they had talked about how Dumbledore had been missing at dinner and thought up theories as to why that was. Soon they'd ended up only insulting their headmaster and this school in general and how Durmstrang was way superior. More than once Draco had stood up saying he needed to get back before curfew even though he'd been having loads of fun but Pansy had always insisted he should stay a little longer. _'A little'_ turned into an hour and he only managed to escape when she went to the bathroom for a few minutes. 

Finally back in his dorm he let himself fall onto his bed and reached for the book on top of the stack he had neatly piled on his bedside table.  
_'Defence for the Beginners Vol. 2'_  
Defence Against The Dark Arts was the only subject Potter had outshone him in this year. Draco did not want that to happen again so he would start studying for it early. For the other subjects as well because Granger, a _mudblood_ , was stealing his first place in almost every subject they had together. After a few hours of reading he got tired and put the book away. Only a few chapters left to read but they could wait until tomorrow. His other roommates were in the bathroom getting ready for bed so he changed into his pyjamas and waited until they were back so he could have the bathroom to himself. Malfoy's didn't share. 

All this time there had been a voice nagging him in the back of his head and somehow he had managed to ignore it while reading. But having nothing to distract himself with, fatigue made his walls break down for a second and that was when the voice screamed at him:  
 _  
'Where's Harry?!!??!?'  
_  
Harry had been sneaking out with his cloak more than once but never for that long. Something felt terribly wrong this time. Something must have happened. Draco wasn't able to close an eye that night because Harry didn't return. At all.   
No, he did certainly not care for the _Golden Boy_ , thank you very much, but Potter didn't show up _all night_ and that was never a good omen.   
Something very, very bad must have happened...

***

When the first sun rays lit up the room Draco stood up and went to the bathroom in order to get a cold shower so he could survive this day of classes. Then he brushed his teeth and made his hair before sneaking down to the common room, leaving three snoring figures behind in their respective beds. As he entered the room he saw some black hair sticking out over the back of the deep blue couch by the fireplace. Draco's heart jumped. Maybe it was Harry who came back late and immediately fell asleep on the first soft surface he saw because he was so tired. But a second glance proved him wrong. The hair was long and straight and not at all wild, curly and exciting like H- _Potter's!_ He already started to leave when he stepped onto something.   
_crunch_  
He closed his eyes in anticipation and took a deep breath to calm down. The less sleep he gets, the shorter his temper. And he hadn't slept at all in at least 22 hours. Draco raised his foot and looked down at what used to be an ink bottle. He was about to leave it be and continue his way to the door when he heard a soft but high voice speak up.

"Harry? Are you there?" 

Draco didn't answer. After some more shifting noises an asian girl's head peaked up in the same place where the hair had been before.

"Oh. Morning Malfoy. Have you seen Harry? I wanted to ask him something so I waited for him to show up but he didn't and I must've fallen asleep at some point."

Draco just shook his head wondering what this girl could've wanted from Potter. Why the fuzz about him? After a moment of awkward silence he finally left the common room and the last thing he saw before closing the door behind him was Cho crouching over the leftovers of the ink bottle and pulling out her wand in order to clean up the mess. 

Taking a good guess he went to the infirmary trying to avoid the most used corridors as he wasn't sure if the curfew was still on at five o'clock In the morning. When he arrived at the portal he put an ear against the wood and as the only thing he heard were muffled snores he entered silently. There were two occupied beds. The snoring came from the one with bright red hair sprawled across the pillow. Draco scrunched his nose in disgust. _Weasley. Filthy blood traitor._  
Then his gaze wandered over to the other bed. He gasped, seeing Harry Potter lying still under white sheets, a bandage was slung around his head. Draco's heart rate picked up a bit as he slowly walked closer. When he saw Harry's chest moving up and down he let out the breath he'd been holding. He was alive.   
Wait, _why did he care?_  
Stupid scarface.   
Of course he would end up in the hospital wing. Straitening his back he left the room asking himself as to why he had even been there but the truth was that suddenly a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.


	18. Win or Lose

Harry sat on his bed, gaze fixed upon the book in his lap. He turned the page and found yet another picture of his parents. This time they were standing in the snow and a blonde woman was with them. All three of them seemed to be about 17 years old and they were waving into the camera happily.  
A caption read:  
_  
Lily, James and Marlene; Hogsmeade, Feb. 1978  
_  
Harry smiled sadly at their merry faces. It was nice having something from their past but it also hurt a lot.  
Suddenly the door was flung open and Michael, Terry and Anthony entered, ripping Harry from his thoughts. As soon as they saw him, they were attacking him with questions. So he closed the book and placed it on his bedside table.

"Yeah, I'm fine guys and no I did not battle a dragon. Who even said that?"

"Please tell us what really happened, these crazy rumours will be the end of me!"

So Harry sighed and told the whole story. Well, the short form. How he and Hermione and Ron had found out about the _Philosopher's Stone_ being at Hogwarts ( _*gasp* "What? Really?"_ ) and someone planning to steal it in the name of Voldemort ( _"DON'T say that name!"_ ) and how they went past the three headed dog in the forbidden corridor and down the trap door, through different rooms with different challenges until he found Quirrell ( _"Quirrell? You're joking."_ ) who had Voldemort's face in the back of his head ( _Don't say THAT NAME!" "I was always wondering why he started wearing a turban."_ ) and how he then got the stone out of the mirror of Erised and Quirrell attacked him and he fainted before Dumbledore got him out of there.

"Wow, okay, this is at least twice as crazy as the rumours! You sure you didn't make that up?"  
As an answer Harry held up his in bandages covered arm.  
"Trust me. I wish I did."

Then he took a look Uncle Vernon's old watch on his bedside table.

"Guys, we should probably head down to the end of year feast or we'll miss the house cup ceremony."

"I wouldn't mind. Slytherin won. _Again_ ,"  
Michael said disappointedly.

They went down to the great hall anyway.  
As all students were seated at their tables Dumbledore stood and held up his hands, silencing them.  
**_  
(A/N: the underlined parts are 100% copied from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone)_**  
"Another year gone!"  
Dumbledore said cheerfully.  
"And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Now, as I understand it, the house cup needs awarding and the points stand thus:  
In fourth place, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two points; in third, Gryffindor, with three hundred and seventy-seven; Ravenclaw have three hundred and eighty-one and Slytherin four hundred and forty-two." 

Slytherin started to cheer and stomp loudly until the headmaster silenced them again.  
"Yes, yes, well done Slytherin,"  
said Dumbledore.  
"However, recent events must be taken into account."  
The room went very still. The Slytherins' smiles faded a little.

"First- to Mr Ronald Weasley, for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts he's seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."  
Cheers erupted at the Gryffindor table and Harry flashed Ron a wide grin.  
  
"Second- to Miss Hermione Granger, for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."  
Hermione buried her face in her arms.  
When she looked up again, teary-eyed, Harry held up two thumbs at her and she gave him a smile in return.  
  
"Third- to Mr Harry Potter, for pure nerve and outstanding courage, as well as great skill and good thinking, I award Ravenclaw house one hundred points."

The cheers exploding around Harry were so loud, he believed his ear-drums were bursting. Who was able to do basic Math -and every Ravenclaw certainly was- knew that Ravenclaw was now placed in first, while Gryffindor was in second place with only four points less. The faces at the Slytherin table looked dangerously angry; they now had no chance left to win the house cup this year. But Dumbledore wasn't finished.  
  
"There are all kinds of courage,"  
said Dumbledore, smiling.  
"It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies, but just as much to stand up to your friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr Neville Longbottom."  
  
There was no holding back at the Gryffindor table anymore as the great hall was suddenly decorated with Gryffindor banners. Gryffindor had won the house cup. Disappointment could be read in all the faces at the Ravenclaw table. Still, they were all clapping out of respect. With two exceptions: Harry was clapping and cheering very enthusiastically, genuinely happy for his friends; the other was Draco Malfoy who was not clapping at all, looking at least as angry as his Slytherin friends.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :  
***  
"Dumbledore is a joke of a headmaster!"  
Draco received eager agreement from the others in his compartment.

"Yeah, I mean, we would've outdone them in any challenge. It's not our fault we didn't know about it!",  
Pansy screeched.

A voice in the back of his head wanted to scream back at her that it hadn't been a game of sorts and that _He_ had almost died but Draco ignored it. Instead he turned all his anger and hate towards Dumbledore.

"Slytherin won fair and square! Then, he first changed the points so that Ravenclaw would've won but no, that's not enough! He had to give stupid Longbottom ten points for his fat arse being in the way of others! He didn't even deserve half of the points and then Ravenclaw would've won! Only because Gryffindor is his favorite. Probably was a stupid Gryffindork himself!"

Once again, agreeing murmurs surrounded Draco. They all had something to say on that topic and only after about an hour of verbally abusing their headmaster, he excused himself to the bathroom.  
"I'll be back in a minute."

He left the compartment and made his way down the corridor. At some point he pushed a Hufflepuff out of his way who immediately ran off, almost crying, and he sneered at a few other people who either ignored him or rolled their eyes ( _how dare they!_ ). The more he was satisfied when Langdorn turned her gaze to the ground and hid her face behind a curtain of long, brown hair as she saw him through the glass of the door. The satisfaction of being respected -or even feared- almost overpowered the other feeling. 

The not so pleasant knot in his chest.

Before he could start thinking about what exactly it had been he put his mind on off-mode until he was in his own compartment again. On the way back Draco caught a glimpse of Harry looking at a picture in this weird photo book he had turned up with a few days ago. His lips were pulled into a soft smile but his eyes were sad. Despite that he somehow looked quite cheerful. It was confusing. 

Before joining the Slytherins again he put his trademark smirk on.  
"Did you miss your prince?"

The rest of the ride continued rather uneventfully and in a similar manner to the past ones. After a few hours Draco was sick of Pansy's high pitched voice and Crabbe and Goyle's enthusiastic nodding to literally everything he said. Suddenly he wished for the soft, calm and intelligent voice that was _Nobody_ and it hit him hard when he realised that he wouldn't be able to talk to them for months.  
_  
Well, Dobby will have to do...  
_  
Finally the train arrived at Kings Cross and Draco walked over to his parents, suitcase in hand, without granting his friends a goodbye. Something in his mother's expression was expectant but Draco turned his attention towards his father first. 

"Hello father, hello mother."

His mother's face fell a bit in disappointment but his father's proud nod made up for it.  
Kind of.  
"Hello, son. Let us get a floo, dinner is waiting."

So they did. Draco threw a handful of the dark powder into the fireplace and easily stepped into the cold, green flames.

" _Malfoy Manor!_ "  
He said in a loud and clear voice and the last thing he saw before being sucked into the floo system was a glimpse of a black haired, small boy with a scar on his forehead who seemingly dreaded his return home so much that he looked like he was going to throw up. Draco's heart clenched at that and for a short period of time he felt like he couldn't breathe but actually these were probably symptoms of travelling with floo powder, _right?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the ending of year one. I struggled a lot to write Dumbledore‘s speech in a way that didn’t sound totally copied but also reflected his character so in the end I decided to just quote it from the original book. In this case I had no chance in doing it better than JKR did. So like, sorry for that? Feel free to comment your opinion on this first part of the book (PLEASE COMMENT I‘M DESPERATE FOR FEEDBACK) and yeah. Thanks for being here peeps!


	19. Home Sweet Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of my favourite chapters! Slight trigger warning for child abuse but nothing really physical.

Harry was sitting on his window sill, letting the chilly morning wind carry away any leftovers of sleepiness. Hagrid's photo book was lying open in his lap as he watched the sun rising, making the boring neighborhood of Little Whinging glow in warm colors.  
That's what Harry did to make living here a little more bearable. Every day he set his alarm clock for right about dawn so that he could enjoy a few hours to himself in peace before the Dursleys would wake up. He watched the sun rising higher and higher, lost in the moment, when there was an intense knock on his door. Closing his eyes he let his head fall back against the wall and sighed.  
_  
And it's over again.  
_  
"Come down and make breakfast, boy!" 

"On my way, auntie!" 

Luckily Petunia was already out of vicinity. Surely she wouldn't have approved of Harry calling her _'auntie'_. Taking a last glance at the clear blue summer sky, he hopped off the sill and closed the window behind him before making his way down to the kitchen. Another day in his living hell and it would be exactly like the last one and exactly like the ones that were coming. He just hoped that his friends could write soon. While he prepared breakfast he managed to slip one slice of bread into his back pocket as Petunia was calling for Vernon and _'Diddikins'_. He sat through breakfast, eating not that much, and hurriedly finished the dishes so he could leave to his room for a moment before the Dursleys put a bunch of chores under his responsibility. 

"Here you are." 

Hedwig almost bit him when he placed the bread in her cage. She hadn't had food since their return from Hogwarts. Harry already had had to put up a big fight that she wouldn't be locked away in the cupboard under the stairs - also known as his former bedroom - with the rest of his wizard stuff. Instead there was now a lock keeping the cage closed so he wouldn't send letters to “other freaks like him“.  
He wanted to write to his friends so bad! 

"Harry! The lawn needs to be mown!" 

"I'm sorry, Hedwig! I wish i could let you out to hunt for a while but-" 

" _NOW!_ " 

Reluctantly he left the snowy owl to herself and complied with his aunts orders.  
He finished the lawn by midday and right after "lunch" (a plain slice of bread) he was told to clean the kitchen - including scrubbing the floor by hand.  
Then he had to make dinner - here he finally got an acceptable amount of food to himself - and do the dishes again.  
When he fell onto his bed in the evening he only just remembered to set an alarm before falling asleep in a matter of seconds. He had done all of these chores for years now but after a year long break it seemed his body and mind weren't used to this daily exhaustion anymore. 

***

When Harry awoke on the next morning it was from the angry knocking on his door. Looked like he had switched his alarm off and fell back asleep. _Shit!_  
His head hurt a bit, probably it was the leftover dizzyness after sleeping for a long time. 

As soon as he sat up he realised it wasn't.  
Pain shot through his head and neck, worse than he was used to from his scar. But this wasn't the scar. His sight blackened in front of him and he just managed to get off the bed before he threw up onto the floor.  
_  
Shit!!!_  
He was sick. 

Harry couldn't remember ever being sick before in his entire life and suddenly he really wished he was back at Hogwarts again. He could just go to Madam Pomfrey and in no time he would be perfectly well again.  
But here? It was scary.  
The thought of telling the Dursleys how he was sick and couldn't do much today...  
So he decided he wouldn't. After massaging his temples to calm down the headache a bit he took a deep breath and stood up, steadying himself on the desk. The world started to turn in front of his eyes and he closed them.  
_  
Inhale..._

_Exhale..._

_Inhale..._

_Exhale...  
_  
Everything would be fine he just needed to get into the bathroom.  
_  
Inhale..._

 _Exhale...  
_  
And go!  
With shaky steps he managed to get to his door, out and across the hallway into the bathroom. With every move the headache got worse again. When he arrived, the room went black and he felt like vomiting again but somehow he managed to calm himself down by gripping onto the sink tightly. The light hurt in his eyes when he looked up again so he pressed them shut. Blindfolded like that he reached for the cabinet door and opened it.  
_  
Okay, now think! Petunia keeps the medicine... on the upper right side?  
_  
Carefully Harry stretched his arm towards where he believed he would find the small glass bottles. 

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE, BOY!?" 

The shouting voice made Harry's head explode in another wave of pain which made his eyes water and caused a reflex to push his hands against his ears and crouch into a tiny heap of limbs. In the movement he brushed something cold with his fingertips and soon he heard what it was. (Well, at least he had been right with his guess as to where his aunt kept the medicine.)  
Then Vernon grabbed a hold of him and forced him to his feet. Harry saw the room littered with tiny shards of dark glass punctuating his still bare feet which started to burn _like hell_ when the alcohol of some kind of potion entered the small wounds. Overwhelmed from all the pain and dizzyness the world went black - this time for real. Harry was pretty sure he threw up again before he slipped into unconsciousness. 

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 

"Father?" 

No answer.  
Draco wanted to talk to Lucius about getting a new broom for his birthday - which was the day after, by the way- because he wanted to enter the Quidditch team that year. Seemingly Malfoy senior was not available at the moment. Still his son pushed the door to his office open and immediately froze in his tracks. On the desk there was a dark, wooden box. It was open. And next to it was a diary like book with a black leather cover. _  
Oh how he remembered this book._  
And the pain that came with the memory! 

What to _Salazar_ was his father doing with this stuff again?!  
Well, this was maybe his only chance to find out. As Draco went straight towards the desk he spotted an already opened letter lying next to the book. He scanned it with his eyes fast without picking it up in order to avoid making Lucius suspicious. The contents made him gulp. It was from a shop owner in Knockturn Alley. Obviously a reply to a former letter sent by his father. It said something about how he would accept the _offer_ but wanted to see the objects his father wanted to sell first. Also he wouldn't ever buy anything like _Tom Riddles Diary_. The _'powers of it were not clear enough'_ and _'he should just give it to any random school girl instead'_. 

_That's a lot of interesting information,_  
Draco thought. Just as he was about to leave he saw another piece of writing. A short note inside the wooden box.  
_  
'This is the key to the Chamber Of Secrets. I trust you to keep it safe. Otherwise it will have consequences.'  
_  
A chill was suddenly running down his spine. Not many people dared to threaten his father. When Draco finally left the room, carefully closing the door behind him, he came to the conclusion that he needed to find out more about this _'Chamber Of Secrets'_. If his father really wanted to get rid of the book he wouldn't hesitate to _actually_ give it to an innocent school girl and it was probably full of dark magic.  
Yes, Draco found dark magic fascinating and he admired his father a lot but risking innocent lives was another thing completely. Also, Draco didn't have much to do anyways and he had a private library - a really big one - at hand, so, why not?


	20. Growing Up

"Draco, Darling! Wake up my little Dragon!" 

Narcissa's soft voice tore Draco from his sleep gently. Slowly he blinked his eyes open to be greeted by his mother's beautiful smile. 

"Happy Birthday, Dragon!" 

His heart warmed at the words and he couldn't hide his smile when he whined, "Don't call me that, mum! I'm not _eleven_ anymore!" 

Her face went serious immediately and she answered,  
"Oh no, of course not!" 

After a short pause she added in a whisper tone,   
"Dragonheart!" 

" _Mum!_ " 

She laughed a beautiful laugh before reaching behind her and placing a huge present on his lap. Draco sat up in excitement.   
It was long!   
Like, _broomstick_ long! 

"Is it...?" 

"Open it!" 

Not giving a damn about doing it _elegantly_ he tore the wrapping off and broke into a big grin. In his hands he held a shiny, black-silver broom and on the handle was imprinted, _'Nimbus 2001'_. 

"Thank you, mother! You're the best!" 

Her bright smile shortly got interrupted by a wince. 

"Don't call me _'mother'_ , that makes me feel old." 

"You call me Dragon, I call you mother." 

"So witty, my little Dragon! You really belong in Ravenclaw." 

Against to what he would've expected, Draco's heart suddenly swelled with pride and he hugged her. Screw his mask! That could be on again when he met someone else! He didn't need it in front of his mother.   
It probably was a good thing that his father didn't witness this moment. Where was he anyway? He often left for a few days when he had work to do but still... This was his _birthday_... He _never_ missed his birthday... 

"Mum?" 

Narcissa's face looked concerned at the sad sound of her son's voice. 

"Yes, sweetheart?" 

"Where's father?" 

Her gaze sank to the ground as if she had dreaded this question. 

"I don't know."   
Her voice was barely more than a whisper.   
"I'm sure he'll be back for your birthday dinner!" 

But she didn't sound sure at all. 

"Come on. Get up. We'll floo to Diagon Alley." 

They had breakfast at a beautiful café in the Alley and got themselves a huge cup of ice cream at _Fortescue's_. Afterwards they travelled back home and Draco took his new broom outside to fly a bit about their grounds while his mother was watching him fondly but also sadly. He could've sworn he also saw a glimpse of anger in her eyes.   
At lunchtime Pansy, Blaise and Theo arrived - his mother knew he prefered them to stupid Crabbe and Goyle - and Dobby along with two other house elves served them some amazing Fish and Chips.   
They had a great afternoon: Draco showed off with his new broom and they talked a lot until their parents picked them up around tea time.   
Then he had about one hour to get ready for family dinner. Narcissa and Draco stood at the fireplace waiting only for Lucius to show up. When 30 minutes went by and he hadn't shown up they went on their own. 

Draco loved spending time with his mom on his own but he really wanted his dad to be here. He didn't treat him like a little child like she did. And Draco had heard Blaise talk about how all his grandparents and uncles and aunts were coming for christmas and his birthday. Draco knew his grandparents were all dead except his mother's mother but she was at St. Mungo's and didn't remember anyone who ever visited her. His father had been an only child and his mother's sisters... well, she didn't like to talk about them but he still knew that the oldest one, Bellatrix, was in Azkaban. 

"So what position will you do the try outs for?",   
Narcissa asked, trying to lighten the mood. 

Draco played along, even though he didn't feel like it.   
His father wouldn't ruin his 12th birthday! 

"Seeker of course." 

His mother's pink lips curled into a soft smile. 

"Yeah, I remember you chasing after birds on your first broom for weeks until we bought you a snitch you could practice with." 

In the end the evening was very nice and Draco smiled while he was getting ready for bed. When he came out of the bathroom, damp hair and pajamas on, he heard angry voices coming from downstairs echoing through the halls of Malfoy Manor. Curious, he went towards the staircase to hear what they were saying.

"Were have you _been_?" 

"I was selling anything that could get us arrested when our house is getting searched!"

" _Today?_ That couldn't have waited until tomorrow?" 

"This was important." 

"YEAH BUT SO IS HIS BIRTHDAY!" 

"So what? He got one year older, what a shocker!" 

Draco’s heart clenched weirdly. That hurt.  
When Narcissa answered she wasn't shouting anymore but she sounded at least twice as dangerous as before. 

"This is your _son_. He _missed_ you. Maybe this day means nothing to _you_ but it means something to _him_ and you weren't here. You go upstairs and tell him you're sorry, _right now!_ And you'll make it up to him somehow, _are we clear?_ " 

"Yes, Narcissa." 

Draco had never heard his father sound so small before and soon he heard footsteps coming closer. Silently he went into his room and lay down on his bed, not bothering to get under the covers, yet. It was too warm. There was a soft knock on his door. Then it was opened a split. 

"Draco, my man? Are you still awake?" 

The adressed boy ignored him. Maybe this was childish but his mother was right. His birthday meant something to Draco and his father decided that selling some stuff had been more important, not even talking about how he wouldn't even be apologising if it wasn't for his mother. 

"Alright. I'm sorry I missed your big day but I really had to get these things done. I'm sure you can understand, after all you are twelve now! I will make it up to you anyway. Sleep well." 

And he was gone again.   
Draco was confused.   
One side of him wanted to forgive his father, his big idol. After all he'd said sorry - even though Malfoys usually didn't do that - and, as his father had said, he was _twelve_ now! He could understand that some business was more important than personal matters. His other side just got even more angry at him.   
_Could that even be counted as an excuse?  
_  
The war inside him kept Draco awake and out of habit he sat up to catch a last glimpse of a sleeping Potter- just to realise that he wasn't there. 

Right. 

What reason would he even want to look at _Scarface_ for?


	21. Innocence

When Harry woke up again he felt slightly better than before. His head still hurt like hell but he could easily move without feeling like vomiting. He sat up on his bed and reached for his glasses. Now able to see properly again he spotted a bowl of cold soup on his nightstand. The watch lying next to it told him it was about 4 in the afternoon but Harry couldn't be sure it still was the same day. He tried to remember what exactly had happened. One thing he was sure of was that he had been sick and that the Dursleys were very angry at him. 

Knowing that he had to do this sooner or later he decided to get up and tell them he was fine again. As soon as his foot touched the ground he flinched back. Curiously he inspected the sole of his foot and found dried blood and some shards of broken glass sticking out of his skin. Pulling a face he cleared it from any pieces of medicine bottle before having another go at walking. Upon reaching the bathroom he realised it still probably was the same day because the floor was still the mess he’d made of it and Petunia would never let Dudley brush his teeth in a room like _that_. 

As he would have to do this anyway, Harry took some toilet paper, let it soak in some water and went to his knees, cleaning up everything including the ugly leftovers in his bedroom. When he was finished he washed out his feet in the shower and wrapped them in toilet paper to prevent them from starting to bleed again. Then he put on two pairs of Vernon's old socks as cushioning and ate his soup which tasted very boring but he didn't expect anything else. 

After giving Hedwig a sympathetic look he finally went downstairs to get it over with. It went as well as possible in a situation like this. Didn't mean he could avoid doing the chores today but he got away with the less energy draining tasks. Still, when he went to bed this evening, he felt like a horde of trolls had just ran him over. 

***

It was only on the next morning that he realised that Hedwig hadn't had anything to eat that day and he made a mental note to himself to buy some bird treats from the 5 pound note he had gotten for Christmas as soon as he came across an animal store. A supermarket would probably do as well. 

He had luck.  
Two days later, when the Dursleys were sure he wouldn't faint again after too much exhaustion, they sent him to buy some groceries at the local supermarket. He finished the shopping as fast as possible and then went through some streets nearby scanning them for a pet store. Just as he was about to go back to Privet Drive (his arms were hurting from carrying the bags and the Dursleys would get suspiscious if he didn't return soon) he saw a sign with brightly coloured paw prints on it. Relieved he entered and grabbed the first bag of bird treats he spotted from the shelf. They were for canaries but that didn't matter. 

"Hello, kid," 

said the woman behind the counter. She was very young, she probably did this as a summer job. 

"How many canaries do you have?" 

"One - Wait, no. I don't have any. I have an owl." 

The girl made wide eyes.

" _An owl? Really?_ I've never heard of such a thing before! A pet owl. Crazy world." 

Harry was getting nervous. 

"Can I please just pay, I need to hurry." 

"But you can't feed an owl canary treats! They need meat! Living spiders or mice!" 

"What? Um, well, I would let her out to hunt but, you know, my aunt and uncle..." 

"I see. Let's do this: I'll sell you a box of living spiders and you can come back to get more if they are used up. If they die you can still feed them to your owl for the following three days _but not_ after that." 

Harry nodded and she went to the back of the shop before returning with a box the size of maybe a watermelon. 

"This is 15 pounds then." 

"How much would i get for 5?" 

She waved it off and took the money while Harry stared at her in wonder, about to complain. He wanted to pay for everything!

"Now get out! I thought you were in a hurry!" 

"Thanks a lot!" 

This evening Hedwig was a happy owl and Harry didn't even get scolded for taking so long. Turns out they had been at the swimming hall with some of Dudley's bully friends. 

The following weeks all went in a pretty similar fashion: Waking up, making breakfast, doing chores, avoiding the Dursleys and so on.  
Up until his birthday it all went like this and he didn't once get a letter from Ron, Hermione or anyone for that matter. Not even from Terry who had promised to send Harry some notes to help him finish the potions essay they had to write over the holidays. But probably he just wasn't finished with it himself and Harry wasn't able to write it anyways with all his school stuff stuck in that cupboard. And Ron and Hermione... maybe they just didn't remember his birthday. Remembering dates had never been Ron's thing. 

And then Dobby showed up, making everything worse. Well, at least now he knew that his friends remembered him! You always have to see the positive sides! Did you know how _hard_ it was to see the positive sides when you are locked in your room with bars in front of your window and getting cold soup shoved through a cat-flap once a day?  
Not even mentioning the letter he got from the ministry for performing magic outside of school in the presence of muggles when it had actually been some weird house elf called _'Dobby'_. 

Good thing he was rescued by Ron, Fred and George only three days into his punishment. There’s only so long you can survive on nothing but tinned soup.  
He suddenly felt so light and happy as he flew across the country in a car with three red-headed idiots, his beloved owl finally soaring across the night sky again, right next to them.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

"How did it go?" 

"Mister Harry Potter is a great man, even greater than you praised him to be! He offered me to _sit down!_ On a _seat!_ " 

"Ugh, what a _Hufflepuff_. Anyway, I don't care how he treated you. I want to know if you did it!" 

"Mister Potter insisted that he would go to Hogwarts either way but then I made his family angry and they locked him in his room and said that he would never have any contact to wizards ever again." 

Draco's heart lurched. Harry's family was even worse than he'd thought. Would he be fine? He shook his head to come back to senses. Better than if he returned to Hogwarts. Much safer at least. 

"I want you to return once a day to check if anything changed." 

"Yes, Master Draco, Sir." 

The day after his birthday Draco had started his research on the chamber of secrets. It took him a few days until he had found something and his mother was already getting suspicious as to why he spent more time in their library rather than flying on his new broom. 

And what he found wasn't pleasing at all. There weren't many books about said chamber. The only information he got was that it was a hidden chamber in Hogwarts, built by _Salazar Slytherin_ himself and that a monster was supposed to live in it. Nothing more than a legend. And no reason to worry as long as it was closed. But his father had the key and he probably planned on slipping it to a school girl.  
Everyone would be in danger. Except the Slytherins. If this chamber had been built by Salazar he surely wouldn't hurt the students of his own house. And Draco was sure that he himself would be safe as well as his father would never set something free that could be hurting his only son. 

But Harry?  
Considering how often _The Boy Who Lived To Annoy_ managed to get into trouble he would be the very first one to be attacked. He couldn't let that happen.  
So Draco had decided to stop Potter from returning to Hogwarts. First he had sent Dobby to capture all his letters before they reached Harry and when that hadn't worked out properly he’d told the house elf to talk to the other boy, to convince him to stay home. 

And here they were.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter and this fic is in sync with Wattpad!


	22. A New Home

"What do you mean _'he is gone'?!_ " 

Draco panicked. His heart rate refused to calm down and anger overwhelmed him.

"Dobby is very sorry, Sir. When he checked yesterday, the boy was still cruelly locked away, but as he returned today, he and his things were gone and the Muggles were very angry."   
_  
Nonononono_ this couldn't be happening. That idiot just didn't know what was best for him! 

Okay. 

New plan. 

"Dobby, you will come up with a way to keep Harry away from Hogwarts. Scare him, kidnap him, _whatever!_ Just make sure he doesn't get to school. _Every second_ that you don't have orders from my father to fulfil, you will spend on this project. He would be in great danger at Hogwarts. You wouldn't want anything bad to happen to Harry Potter, _would you_ , Dobby?" 

The house elf shook his head enthusiastically, his eyes wide and his ears flapping around making him look extremely ridiculous. And then he just stood there. 

"Are you deaf?! Get started! Now!" 

"Of course, master Draco, Sir!" 

With a snap the house elf finally disapparated, leaving Draco to himself. It wouldn't take much now to get him to break every promise he made to _Nobody_. Suppressing the urge to cry and scream he settled for kicking his bed post instead. He groaned in pain. This was the first and probably last time he’d ever thank his parents for forcing him to always wear shoes - even in his own bedroom. 

"Merlin, Harry! Why can't you just stay out of trouble?!"

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

The Weasleys were the nicest and most wonderful people Harry had ever met. They all welcomed him wholeheartedly in their midst and made him feel like he was one of their own children. Molly made the best food - except Hogwarts food maybe -, Arthur asked the strangest questions about simple Muggle things but always seemed genuinely interested in what Harry told him and Ginny always acted a bit weird and shy around him but was also super nice and that fierce little girl was definitely not afraid to stand up to her older brothers. Ron claimed she had a crush on him but Harry didn't believe him.   
Why would she?

The brothers he all knew from school already, except the very oldest one. But neither Bill nor Charlie were in town as they both worked abroad so Harry didn't get the chance to meet him. He also would've liked to thank Charlie for his help with a certain Dragon Problem. Seemed like he had to do that another time. 

Life at the Wealseys' was super fun. Ron always complained about the chores they had to do but Harry found that that bit of table setting and garden degnoming with the other boys was fun, too.   
The most amazing thing, though, was the fact that he finally got to fly on a broom again. Quidditch with Ron and the twins was the best thing ever and he couldn't wait for the school team try outs this September. He just wasn't sure about the position he wanted to play, yet. Keeper definitely wasn't his thing but he loved being seeker and beater equally. And his father had been a chaser so that would be amazing, too. Nevertheless, his decision could wait until his return to school. Now he just wanted to enjoy the time he had with the Weasleys. At the moment he was getting ready to leave the burrow- that's what they had called their house - for Diagon Alley in order to buy various school supplies that were required. Soon all of them were gathered around the fireplace, even though Harry wasn't sure as to why exactly _there_. Molly was the last one to join them. In her hands she carried a small pot of glittery black powder. 

"Here's the floo-powder." 

Then she basically shoved the pot right under his nose. 

"Guests go first!" 

"Okay, um, but what do I do." 

The woman looked shocked and glared at Ron accusingly. 

"Ronald, you should've told us that he hasn't used the floo system before." 

Ron looked ready to defend himself but got interrupted before he even opened his mouth. 

"Come on, you go first, so Harry can see how it is done." 

The youngest son just shrugged and walked towards the fireplace, grabbing a handful of the weird powder on his way. Mr Weasley put his hands onto Harry's shoulders from behind in a fatherly gesture which felt oddly right. 

"Okay, kid. Just watch really closely what he's doing, alright?" 

He gave a nod and Ron threw the powder into the fireplace which suddenly lit up in bright green flames. Harry almost screamed when Ron stepped into them, but the boy seemed totally fine and his clothes didn't even catch fire!   
_  
'I should really stop being surprised by this world'_ ,  
Harry decided. 

" _Diagon Alley_ ",   
Ron said loud and clearly and immediately he was gone and the flames were, too. 

Suddenly all the gazes were on Harry again. 

"Your turn, boy."   
Mr Weasly let go of his shoulders.   
"You've got this. Just speak very clearly." 

Gathering his courage he stepped forward, took some of the powder and flung it into the fireplace. He hoped no one saw him wince when the green flames burst out of nowhere. Taking a last deep breath he stepped in. Against his expectations the fire was really cold. When he finally dared to breathe in, in order to say the words, ashes were finding their way into his lungs and the urges to caugh and sneeze were interjecting with his ability to speak properly. What came out was something like: 

" _Dagnally-_ "

And with that he got sucked into the floo-network.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From now on this story is up to date with wattpad and will therefore always be updated at the same time. This most of the time equals every 2 weeks but sometimes It’ll be faster. Today you’re lucky because I just got the next chapter ready! <3


	23. School Supply Shopping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shopping can be a real mess.

Draco was excited. In two weeks school was starting again and he’d just received his letter with the supply list. This meant he would have to go to Diagon Alley soon. Usually his mother was the one to take him shopping but she just so happened to be busy that day and his father was free from work and still wanted to sell stuff in _Knockturn Alley_. Draco hadn't been able to believe his luck when Lucius had mentioned this at breakfast and told him the two of them would be attending to their respective businesses together. His mother had always prohibited going to _Knockturn Alley_ and as he was in fact very interested in Dark Arts the Malfoy heir couldn't ever be more curious about a place. As his father's appointment at _Borgin &Burke’s_ was rather early, this was the first point on their list. The Alley was a dark and scary place, Narrow walls, weird people selling questionable products. Draco was amazed and disgusted at the same time. (And maybe a little scared, too, but he would never admit that.) This was the first time he saw the ugly side of dark magic. He always had more of an elegant, strong and powerful impression of the art. A rough hand grabbed his upper arm and Draco jumped. 

"Don't wander off, Draco! And don't stare!" 

Relieved, he let out a breath and complied with his father's orders. Swallowing his disappointment he straightened his back and pridefully strutted the rest of their way, showing all the _scum_ that lingered around here, that he was superior to them in every way possible. Just like he had learned it from his father. The store that was their destination was definitely the most clean and safe-looking place there was in this Alley. Actually it was like a very dark verion of a Diagon Alley shop. Weird, unnatural, valuable, beautiful and scary objects were presented in the shop window. Finally they entered and Draco didn't take in Lucius' warning to not touch anything due to a distraction. And even though everything in this shop was fascinating and at least partially desirable, it was not what had distracted him. No, but in the far corner of the shop there was a tall, wooden cabinet and Draco could've sworn that he saw a movement over there just a moment ago. Then, the shop owner turned up and he decided to investigate upon that suspiscous movement as soon as his father was caught up in the transactions. 

"Good Morning, Mr Malfoy. I'm very honored to have you here. Oh, and as I see you've brought young Mr Malfoy, too. It's a pleasure to meet you, young Sir!" 

The greasy, small wizard made what some people would call a bow towards each of them and in return received a halfhearted nod from Lucius who still wore a disgusted scowl on his lips.

"Let's get directly to the matter,..." 

And Draco was out. 

Slowly he made his way over to the cabinet, taking a look at some interesting objects but mostly faking his interest in them. His mind was completely focused on the weird reflections on the floor right in front of the small open slit of the cabinet door. Reflections such as the ones only produced by curved glass. 

_Glasses! There's someone in there!_

He considered telling the shop owner about it but something felt off with the whole thing. And his gut feeling turned out to be correct. When he was close enough he recognised the glasses. How could he not after having to look at them every single day of the previous school year? There were cracks in the lenses but these were unmistakingly Potter's. 

Draco's heart rate doubled when he hastily threw a glance back at his father to check if he had noticed that somehting was off. He hadn't. Quietly he picked up the glasses and held them into the opening of the cabinet. Nothing happened. After another quick glance at his father he dared to whisper something. 

"I know your're there, Potter. Just take your damn glasses." 

Suddenly a thin hand softly squeezed his in a grateful gesture, took the glasses and pulled back again. For about a minute Draco just kept standing right there, frozen in his tracks but all warm and fuzzy on the inside. Then, pushing these sensations to the back of his mind, he continued to take in all the magical artefacts in the shop until his father calles him to go.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 

Harry was confused. Even when Hagrid had already taken him to _Diagon Alley_ he stilll couldn't get his mind off of what had just happened. This, in fact, distracted him so much, it took him way too long to realise that Hermione Granger was standing right in front of him, greeting him cheerfully. As soon as he caught on, though, he immediately flashed her a smile. 

"Hey, Mione! Good to see you! How was your summer?" 

"Amazing! What did you do to your glasses again?" 

She tutted, shaking her head. But instead of fixing them with a spell like she did on the train, she asked another question. 

"Where's Ron? He told me that you were staying with his family for the rest of summer. You'll have to tell me everything about what happened later, I'm really -RON!" 

Harry turned around to find that Ron -or rather the whole Weasley family- were gathered a few meters in front of them. In an instant Mrs Weasley was at his side, fussing over him. 

"Oh, Harry, darling. Are you okay? You frightened us to death. You could've ended up _anywhere!_ " 

Harry blushed madly as she spit on her thumb, rubbing at some sort of smudge on his cheek. 

"I'm fine, Mrs Weasley! Really!" 

Molly didn't seem to have heard him, though. She just continued to brush white ashes off his robes. Mr Weasley meanwhile used this chance to cast _'reparo'_ upon Harry's glasses and soon they were off to Gringotts, right after Hermione had introduced them to her parents. When the Weasleys entered their vault, Harry was shocked. He’d known that they weren't particulary wealthy but he didn't epect that they only had a few galleons in total - which they all took to spend on school supplies this day, leaving the vault completely empty. Shame came over him when he stood in front of his own money, trying to hide the view of piles and piles of galleons and sickles and knuts from his friends. Somehow he wished he didn't own any of it and could just leave it to the Weasleys. But he knew they wouldn't take it. Hastily he stuffed a few coins of every sort into a small purse and then shuffled back out of the door. Relief flooded Harry when they finally were out in the Alley again but he still felt the shame prickling in his stomach. 

"I'm so excited for this year!" 

Of course it had been Hermione who said that. 

"You're probably the only one who is." 

Harry didn't argue Ron even though he secretly was pretty much looking forward to being back at Hogwarts himself. He couldn't await trying out for the Quidditch team, nor could he await to finally use his wand again. He also missed his Ravenclaw friends, especially his roommates (Draco excluded. Maybe not after today? Ugh, this boy was confusing!) and Cho Chang. 

"What even-?" 

The group came to a halt right in front of _Flourish & Blott's_. An incredible mass of people - especially witches of all ages - were crowded inside the small bookshop. All of them blushing and giggling and overall being excited. A shriek from Hermione brought clearance into their confusion. 

"Gilderoy Lockhart!"

She pointed to a big sign next to the shop window. It read:

  
_  
**Gilderoy Lockhart**  
Order of Merlin, Third Class  
five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award  
Successful Author and Adventurer  
**BIG SIGNING SESSION AT NOON**  
_

Suddenly both Molly and Hermione seemed overeager to just get inside and ushered them forward as fast as possible. And if it hadn't been for the events of the recent year, he would say that this was the biggest mess he’d ever been drawn into. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger? Kind of but actually not as most of you probably remember what happens next.


	24. Robes and Books and Monsters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything bold is part of a throwback!

_What was he doing in that shop?_  
The question consumed Draco's mind and drowned out any other impressions. Usually he loved shopping but right now he couldn't focus on the robe Madam Malkin was fitting on him for even a mere second. Actually being in this dressing room just made it worse. Here was where everything started. Here was where he’d met _him_. 

_The Boy Who Lived_

Though he hadn't known that back then of course. Exactly one year ago. 

**He was standing on this exact same stool, the dresser fussing about him like she was right now, and his mother gone to pick up his books for him. He was so proud - finally he could attend to his business on his own! (He also felt a little lost without his mother but that's besides the point, isn't it?) And then this small, black-haired, bespectacled boy entered. He must have been the same age as Draco - he asked for Hogwarts robes - but he still looked so tiny and cute-**

NO! Not this word again! 

**The _weird_ boy was wearing a ragged, oversized sweater, had broken glasses and _ugly_ messy hair. When the boy stood on the stool next to Draco, he wanted to throw him an angry glare as he now wasn't the main center of Madam Malkin's attention anymore but all the rage disappeared when he caught sight of those _eyes_. They seemed to be glearing with excitement - very unlike the shy smile on the boy's lips - and they were so _green_. Flicking across the room as if he needed to take everything in. As if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Draco was fascinated and his heart got caught in his throat when those eyes finally looked back right into his soul. Shocked by this new sensation he snapped his head back to the front. Taking a deep breath he calmed himself down until he could think relatively clearly again. A quick sideways glance showed him the boy nervously looking down at his dirty, overused, way to big muggle shoes. A _mudblood_? Draco didn't hope so. That would mean he couldn't befriend him and this weird feeling he got around him was scary but also extremely intriguing and he just wanted _more_ of it. So he did what had never failed to impress other people, yet. He proudly raised his nose and showed off who he was. And in the end when the boy had to go again he smiled, sure of having done this as well as he did with everything else. Though he found some things that the boy had said a little weird. Like, which pureblood didn't know about the hogwarts houses? But that was unimportant. He could find out all about him when they meet again at school and get into the same house and become best friends. Only when he lay in bed that night he remembered that he hadn't even introduced himself, nor had he asked for the boy's name. So it was that it took him one more week to find out that it must've been Harry Potter who he'd met, making him want to be friends with him even more. Imagine the fame. The whole school would know them as the kings of Slytherin! And then the train thing happened. Stupid Weasley. That blood traitor ruined everything.**

"You're done, Mr Malfoy! Shall I send the bill together with the robes to your father as soon as they are finished?" 

Draco blinked twice to stop the burning in his eyes before turning to the woman. 

"As always, Madame Malkin's." 

"Alright, have a nice day, Sir." 

He didn't return the wishes but just took off the robes before joining his father at the door. Then they left for the bookshop where Lucius once again left him in order to buy some quills on the other side of the Alley. Draco wanted to look for a new quill himself after he'd picked up the books but he wasn't prepared for the sheer amount of people waiting at the counter. It was horrible and nothing seemed to be moving. When he saw the sign explaining what was going on he rolled his eyes and went upstairs. This could take ages so he might as well just use the time to do some further research on creatures that could possibly be the inhabitant of the chamber of secrets. In the course of the past three weeks he had narrowed it down to creatures with these attributes:

  * can kill without causing visible injuries 
  * is either invisible or has the ability to travel unseen by other means 
  * can paralize people 
  * connection to Salazar Slytherin (might be snake-like?)
  * either highly intelligent or controlled by someone who is



He'd drawn these conclusions from old newspapers and medical reports of attacks at Hogwarts. Most of them were about 50 years old, a time where there were rumours of the chamber being "active". Draco was really a little concerned as to why his father had copies of hogwart's medical reports of a time when he hadn't even gone to school but he didn't give it too much thought. Much rather he was happy to have the information and used it well for his research. While he was scanning about every magical creatures and beasts books there were in the shop, there was excited chatter and giggling travelling upstairs from the main event. It was annoying but Draco tried to fade the noise out to his best. It was working and he made great progress until there was a shout. 

"Harry Potter! What an honour-" 

Draco rolled his eyes once again. Of course Potter would be the center of everyone's attention wherever he went. Even at the signing session of a wanna-be-famous author. Well, maybe Lockhart was quite popular and maybe also quite handsome but it didn't make him any less of an idiot. But with Potter in the shop everyone seemed to be even more excited and _loud_. Why did excited people always have to be so _loud_?  
There was the sound of rustling and pictures being taken and applause and Draco just tried to ignore it all. Just as he was about to give up he found something. A _basilisk_. He'd heard about that creature and according to what he knew, everything fit into the profile. First he wanted to proofread the page but then a mob of black hair and a lightreflex caught his eye. Potter was heading for the exit. He was going to see him. So he just ripped out the page in a hurry, put on his perfect mask and strut down the flight of stairs. The following encounter was a huge mess filled with a mix of some angry and some unreadable glares, insulting the youngest Weasle (a _girl_ for a change), also insulting Harry's so called ‘friends’, Lucius joining in with insulting Granger's parents and having a weird conversation - actually they just exchanged like 5 words each - with Harry and then having a full on fist fight with Arthur Weasley, leaving the store in a real state. You don't want to hear the details. Anyway, they got picked apart and the bookshelves were restored with a few flicks of a wand. Mildly injured, both father's left the shop, taking their respective families with them and going down the Alley in opposite directions. And that was that. 

The day after, when Draco told his father he hadn't been able to retrieve the books Lucius seemed about to explode but Narcissa gave him a glare and in the end he wrote a letter to _Flourish & Blott's_ with a plea to send the books straight to the Manor along with a bill, just like they always had it with robes. Everything that had happened on their shopping trip just felt unreal. Like a weird dream. But Draco couldn't get it off his mind. All the things that had happened. And Potter. So cunfusing, that bloody git. Stupid, too. Draco sighed. He really ought to come up with some better insults if he wanted to keep that feud going. It was exhausting, really. Some days he cursed himself for sending Dobby on that 'mission'. 

He knew he shouldn't but it was undeniable. He missed _Nobody_. His personal safe house. Home. In a truly desperate moment a nice, brunette girl crossed his mind which made him groan out loud at his own pathetic behaviour. Never again would he talk to that Mudblood Hufflepuff. Langdorn could get lost if she thought otherwise. The basilisk page turned out to be useless. It just didn't really fit all that much and as he'd worked himself through all magical creatures books in their Manor library he had to wait until Hogwarts before he could resume his research. Still, when Draco was packing his things three days early because he didn't have anything better to do, he carefully put the by now creased piece of parchment between the first two pages of _'Hogwarts: A History'_. Somehow he found that fitting and smiled to himself about it. He smiled because soon he would be back at school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Draco is the list type. Fight me.


	25. Back to School

When they arrived at Platform 9 ¾ Draco hurriedly said his goodbyes to his parents and disappeared into the crowd. During the summer he had become more and more uneasy around his father. The man that he looked up to had most definitely changed a lot. Lucius almost never left his study and when he did he was either “getting business done” or complaining that he was wasting his time not doing exactly that. Of course Draco understood that his father’s business was important. 

_'Business should  
always be your first priority'_,  
he'd been told. 

But it was annoying nonetheless and knowing that his father owned objects that he had to sell because they could get them into big trouble with the ministry – It was unsettling. Some days he told himself that he shouldn't be judging his own father's actions, but he cared too much not to. Draco was first in their usual carriage. Sitting down in a seat by the window, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. 

Everything was fine now. Dobby would keep Potter off the train, so that idiot was safe. And he'd be back at Hogwarts soon. Out of his father's eyes and _Nowhere_ in reach once again. Everything was as it should be. Inhaling deeply for a last time, he opened his eyes and put on the mask. His friends should arrive at any moment now.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : :

They were running late. Of course. Getting six kids all packed up and into the car was a huge mess. They were just about to leave when Fred ran back inside again to fetch some joke articles. He came back and Mr Weasley had already started the engine when Ginny shrieked, claiming she'd left her diary – her brothers teased her about that during the whole ride. After that they were finally able to go. They took the flying car, even though they didn't fly (“Molly, we'd be so much faster!” - “I said no, Arthur!”), but Mr Weasley had enlarged it on the inside so the eight of them would all fit without a problem.

One and a half hours later they were at the station, hasting down platform 9. 

“Go on, go on!”,  
panted Mrs Weasley,  
“Fred, George, Percy! You three go first!” 

And so they did. Then Mr and Mrs Weasley took Ginny through the barrier, leaving Ron and Harry to themselves. As their time was running out they decided to go together. They took up a lot of speed, the wall came closer and closer and – _CRASH!_

Harry found himself lying on the floor, next to Ron and surrounded by their belongings. Hedwig was screeching in her cage, which was rolling dangerously close to the edge of platform 10. Cursing, he jumped to his feet and hurried over to his dear owl, picking up the cage and holding onto it tightly. Only then he became aware of all those people, who had stopped and stared at them openly and judging. Harry cast a rash glance at Ron who was still groaning on the floor. Wrecking his brain for a credible explanation he cleared his throat and spoke up. 

“I'm really sorry. We- we were late and running to catch the train and then we lost control over our carts. We'll be more careful now.” 

Then he went to help Ron up, trying not to listen to exclaims of “animal cruelty” and “Where are their guardians?”.

“Are you alright mate?” 

“Yeah, sure.”

But when he came up Harry did catch him wincing a little. He decided that could wait until later, though. First, to the problem at hand.

“What the hell was that?” 

Ron pressed against the barrier with his right shoulder, testing it. It didn't move a bit. “I don't know, mate. This is bloody scary!” 

Harry nodded.  
“Look, let's pick up our stuff. People are still staring.” 

He wanted to bend down to place Hedwig onto the cart when Ron grabbed his shoulder.

“Mate! Harry! If we can't get in, what if my parents will never get out?” 

Harry looked right into his blue eyes, hoping to have a calming effect on his best friend. 

“It'll be fine. We'll go back to the car and wait for them, alright?” 

Ron slid a hand through his hair and gulped. Then he nodded. 

“Alright.” 

So they began to gather all their things while people around them went back to their own business, hopping on and off trains. Then they pushed their carts towards the exit, desperate to get away from all those Muggles. 

“Hey, wait! Lads! Wai’ up!” 

They turned their heads and were faced with a young, handsome man, running towards them. He waved with a book. Harry's eyes went wide with shock when he recognised it as one of the books from Lockhart's collection. If the Muggle had seen the title... or even worse, the moving picture on the cover...

“Here yew go, kid!”  
The man smiled as he gave back the book.  
“Fantasy is da best, ain’t it?” 

Relieved, Harry let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and smiled back at the guy with the thick London dialect. 

“Yeah, sure is.” 

“Good kid. Stick ter reading, it’s way be’er van starin’ at a stupid TV! OK?” 

Harry nodded. 

“Not many left ov us, are there?, innit.” 

Harry nodded again. 

“Well, I need ter be off. Keep i’ going, lad! Yer time'll come! Know what I mean?” 

And he was off. Harry couldn't believe their luck. They'd been so close to being exposed.

Ron didn't share his opinion, apparently. The ginger boy looked terrified. Harry suppressed a laugh at his friend's ridiculous facial expression and set off towards the exit again. 

“Come on, mate. Let's go to the car.” 

When they arrived, Ron had a brilliant idea. At least that's what they both thought at the time. 

“The car! We can fly the car to Hogwarts!” 

And Harry didn't hesitate to agree. He'd shortly thought about just sending a letter but Hedwig angrily picked his finger bloody when he tried to open the cage. He really didn't want to let the Dursleys win. He needed to go back to Hogwarts. That's where he belonged. That's his home. And so they sat in the car, Ron behind the steering-wheel and Harry just remembered that there were Muggles around when they had set off the ground.

“Ron, didn't you say something about an invisibility feature?”

“Blimey, yes.” 

Ron frantically hit a silver button right where in another car there would've been a radio before pulling the sky blue Ford Anglia up into the clouds. Their journey went without huge struggles. At one point they had to go down to find the train, of course, but that was not a big deal. When Ron wanted to drive on top of the railway, Harry interfered. 

“We'd be way slower than the train, so either we won't find it, ever, or it's going to run us over. Let's just follow the railways next to it.” 

And so they did and soon the Hogwarts Express caught up to them. Now they could safely go back up above the clouds and just check if the train was in sight every once in a while. All in all, the flight was nice. The landing on the other hand was a total mess. They'd been already above the grounds when the car decided to give up. It was just their luck that they ended up in a tree. A very aggressive tree at that. From the moment they had spotted the castle to where they now sat in Snape's office they had went form the most euphoric to the most miserable they had ever been in the span of one hour. In the chaos Ron's wand hat been snapped in half, only held together by a last string from the core. Both of them had several bruises all over and the Gryffindor had a bleeding nose. And on top of everything they were probably going to be expelled. Harry didn't want to go back to the Dursleys! 

A lump was sitting high in his throat at the prospect of maybe never being able to return to the wizarding world ever again. The only place he'd ever felt welcomed and at home. He was terrified and sat still like a statue while his least favorite professor was scolding them. 

“What were you thinking! Flying a car through muggle London! You are still underage! Of course a Gryffindor would be involved! But Ravenclaw? You are a shame for your house! Not that I ever expected anything else, of course. You are just like your father. Stupid and reckless!” 

Harry opened his mouth to complain – he hadn't known his father in person but everyone apart from Snape was talking of him in high tones and no one was going to insult him in front of his son – but in that moment the headmaster entered the room, accompanied by Professors Flitwick and McGonagall. Harry's mouth fell shut and both students stared at their feet, ashamed. Harry was not ready to wake up from this dream, yet, but it seemed like he'd have to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kind of a mess and I’m not sure I did the accent well enough so if you had struggles or thoughts while reading this, please comment!


	26. Ravenclaw Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. I hope all of you are staying safe and healthy during this covid-19 outbreak. <3

During the train ride everything was perfect. Just as it should be. Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, Blaise; and Draco in their center of attention. Nothing to remind him that he wasn't a Slytherin as he was supposed to be. Up until the feast it was like Potter didn't even exist. But as he sat among all those Ravenclaws he became incredibly aware of his absence. His friends weren't around and the Ravenclaws ignored him – not that that wasn't exactly what he wanted, mind you. He just felt his mask slipping away a bit and usually he just had to glare at Potter and let the _hatred_ inside him boil and it was easily back on again. Draco closed his eyes and took a deep breath! It had to be like this. He was out of danger.

“HUFFLEPUFF!” 

Draco jumped and almost fell out of his seat. Lost in his thoughts he hadn't realized that the sorting had started. 

During the following 10 minutes he scowled at everyone sorted into Slytherin – seriously, if people like _that_ got in there, why didn't he? - and rolled his eyes at everyone who ended up in any other house. That was up until a little girl with long, dirty blonde hair, who had just been sorted into Ravenclaw, sat down right next to him. The girl was wearing radishes as earrings and a flower necklace. Well, they didn't lool like flowers usually looked like but he couldn't figure what else they were supposed to be. Her big eyes wandered over every inch of the great hall, taking in all of it, and inevitably landed on Draco, making her soft smile grow wider and her eyes shine brighter. 

"Hello, you! I'm Luna!", she said dreamily. 

Sw- _NO!_

Annoying! 

Weird! 

Loony! Yeah, loony! 

"Find someone else to annoy, _Loony!_ " 

Draco glared down at her, waiting for her smile to falter and for her to run off, crying or something. But she didn't. Instead she  
started to _giggle_. Could you believe that?!

“You're so funny!”

Unbelievable! 

He kept staring at her, mouth agape. But Loony didn't seem to mind all that much. Not having received any reply, she just went back to watching all the people at the different house tables, swinging her legs happily. When Draco realized he'd been staring for more than a minute, he shook his head and opted for paying attention to the ceremony instead. It was almost over and soon the last girl was to be called up. 

“Weasley, Ginny!” 

A girl with red hair ( _surprise_ ) and a robe that had seen better days ( _another surprise_ ) put on the hat and it didn't take long for it to shout,  
“GRYFFINDOR!”

“Well, who would've guessed that,” Draco  
murmured to himself, deadpan.

“I don't know. Who?” 

It was the little girl to his left. 

“Ugh, bugger off!” 

Loony did look a bit taken aback then but it didn't give him the expected satisfaction.

“That's not a nice thing to say. You should be nicer to people!”

All of a sudden the light in her eyes returned. 

“Maybe I can teach you!” 

Draco snorted at that and cringed immediately after. Malfoys didn't _snort_! He didn't have much time to be thrown off, though, because in that moment the delicious feast appeared on the platters. Draco realized he was practically starving and immediately tucked in. In an elegant way of course. Not like the Weasel with no manners at all. Talking of the Weasel; he too was nowhere to be seen. Only four redheads were stuffing themselves with food at the Gryffindor table. His gaze fell on the brunette girl next to them. Granger looked lost and restless and she was nervously fumbling with her red and gold tie.

_Well, obviously! Her two best friends are missing without a trace!_

It was hard to convince himself that the voice in his head was not one of sympathy and after a few more minutes he gave up and just decided to put his brain on off-mode again. When he came back it was because Loony was scrambling off her seat next to him. 

“See you tomorrow. Then I can start teaching you being nice. Sleep well. Oh and watch out for Nargles!” 

Caught off guard and confused by the last comment he actually wished her a “good night” and before he was able to take it back he received a blasting grin in return that made him want to smile as well. Then, her blonde head disappeared in the mass of other students and Draco bit his cheek to gain control over his facial expressions again. Getting up and out of the great hall he thought about sneaking off to _Nowhere_ for a quick chat but not only was he sure that his next chat with _Nobody_ would hardly be anywhere close to quick but he also had a gut feeling that he really ought to get to his dorm. 

And somehow he wasn't all that surprised when he arrived there and found none other than Harry Potter sitting on the exact same bed he'd had occupied throughout the previous year. Channeling all the annoyance and hatred he had in him he scoffed and said,  
“There you are, Scarface. And I've had all my hopes up that you couldn't make it this year.” 

“Nice to see you, too, Malfoy!”

But the reply was already muffled by the bathroom door. With a sigh, Draco started to get ready for bed. Dobby was a dead elf!

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Harry was so glad that they hadn't been expelled that he didn't take their punishment too bad. Just detention. And they had missed the sorting and weren't allowed to go up to the feast. But nothing could get Harry's spirits down. He'd already seen himself locked up in his bedroom at the Dursley's again or disqualified for the Quidditch tryouts. In his opinion they had gotten away pretty well off. And thanks to his own argument that the school year hadn't even started at the time, there weren't even any house points taken. Although Dumbledore’s disappointed expression had really stung. At that moment Harry decided he would be the perfect student this year and stay out of any kind of trouble. He didn't want to see that look ever again. Naturally, he'd been the first one to be up in the Ravenclaw tower and therefore was to solve the riddle on his own. He struggled for a second but soon he came up with something and was let inside the walls of heaven on earth. 

What else would you call this place, really? 

The stunning view of the grounds lying still beneath the covers of the night. The sky outside matching the painting on the dome shaped ceiling. Bright stars all over. And the cozy little fire. And the bookshelves. And the calm that was radiating off the colours that could be seen anywhere. Blue and bronze. Only then Harry realized how much he had really missed this place. Taking a final glance at the Rowena statue, he turned towards the staircases. He was home. Enjoying every step, he slowly made his way up to their dormitory which was now bearing the number II instead of the I that had sat there just a few months prior. 

With a smile on his lips Harry entered and found everything in its place. His luggage was sitting next to his old bed. Hedwig's cage was empty. No wonder. She had been even more pissed off after their crash with the tree. Harry made a mental note to make it up to her the next day, right after he'd visited Hagrid. With a yawn he pulled his pajamas from his case and went to the bathroom to get ready for the night. Ten minutes later he finally sat down on his four poster when Draco stood in the doorway of their dorm. The following conversation was way too short and too similar to exchanges they'd had in the past that Harry didn't even bother interpreting Draco's mood swings. Right then he was way too tired for this bullshit.


	27. Necessary Visits

Harry felt like the luckiest boy alive. He was still here. After all that had happened, not only the day before but throughout the course of his life, he was standing here, a young, learning wizard in a magical castle, surrounded by (mostly) friends. 

Even though the previous day’s events had exhausted Harry deeply, he was up and about at sunrise – a habit that's harder to get rid of than one might think – and on his way to pay Hagrid a visit. The other boys had all still been asleep when he‘d left the dorm so he didn't get to actually reunite with them, yet, but he'd been glad to see them all back and well. 

Catching up with Hagrid was fun and kind of grounding. They hadn't had much time to talk when they had run into each other in Knockturm Alley. After three cups of very sugary tea Harry made his way back to the castle where he joined Ron and Hermione for breakfast with a smile on his lips and probably a red nose from the cold. 

“Hey, guys.” 

Neither of his best friends replied, bringing up a frown.

“What's up?”, he tried again. 

Ron gave him a glance as if he had just seen a giant spider with too many eyes. And maybe that expression was justified because at that same moment Hermione's judging glare found his eyes and her silent scolding was almost as effective as Professor McGonagall's, leaving Harry mumbling a sheepish apology.  
Hermione wouldn't have any of it. She just kept ignoring them in a rather loud way. Harry wanted to avoid her eye at any chance. He knew they had messed up. She was right, they had been very irresponsible. But the outcome could've been worse... probably. 

Harry found himself searching the room with his eyes for... he didn't even know what he was looking for. Something just felt amiss. He spotted his roommates (apart from Malfoy, obviously) sitting at the Ravenclaw table, talking as if they had never stopped. Soon, Anthony looked into his direction and made a motion to the other two. Terry and Michael turned their heads and sure enough all three of them flashed him bright grins. Harry smiled back and gave a little wave before bringing his gaze back to his plate – which was still empty. How long did he just sit there without eating? Shaking his head, he helped himself to some scrambled eggs and bacon and tucked right in before going back to people watching. Draco Malfoy was actually _nowhere_ to be seen and somehow Harry didn't even find that surprising. Although it would be quite interesting to know where that git always ran off to. There was no time for pondering in that moment, though, because a little redhead slid into the seat next to her brother, interrupting his thoughts. He spared Ginny a smile and then let Hermione lead the conversation with the first year. 

And then the Howler came. 

I mean, you have to see the positive sides: at least now Hermione thought they've been punished enough and was taking to them again.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Draco stared at the light brown wood of the door way longer than he should've before carefully lifting the door knocker and letting it do it's job. If felt weird being back here after those months. But _Nobody_ wouldn't let him be shy about it for more than a second. 

_I'm glad you're back, Draco._

Clearing his throat from all awkwardness he finally entered and went straight for the couch. If the room had changed even a little bit since last year, Draco didn't see it. It was all well-known, homely and comfortable. A nice cup of tea appeared on the small coffee table in front of him. He smiled briefly. 

“Thanks.” 

There was a short pause when Draco took a sip of his Earl Grey and only when he sat the cup back down again did _Nobody_ speak up. 

_I take it you want to tell me about your holidays?_

Draco nodded but didn't speak, yet, in favor of sorting his thoughts first. He let the events of the summer flash up in front of his eyes and one by one started retelling them. Every now and then he would take a look at the time in order to not be late for class on the first day. 

“... Dobby made sure that Harry couldn't return to school. I don't care for him but that idiot will get himself into trouble again, I just know it, and in this case he wouldn't survive it. I despise his ugly scarface-”, 

Draco blatantly ignored _Nobody's_ comment of _language!_ here, 

“-but I'm not a murderer. I really don't know how to feel about father doing these things anymore.” 

_Oh, I feel like your starting to form your own opinion on the topic just fine._

Draco rolled his eyes. 

“Why do you always have to be so damned vague?” 

_Nobody_ laughed and it made Draco feel all giddy inside. It was a free and honest and bright laugh. Less like the overly controlled ones from his friends and more like Harry's when the redhead twins had made a good joke. 

Thinking about Harry's laugh, he craved to hear it again. It felt like an eternity since the last time. Maybe if he had went down to breakfast instead he might have heard it floating over from the Gryffindor table where he was probably sitting with Granger and the Weasle Clan. That was the moment when it hit. 

Harry was _here_. 

At _Hogwarts_. 

Where chances were of a monster to be released by an innocent and unknowing school girl with a diary. 

A sob escaped his throat and he pressed a hand against his mouth to stifle it. With all willpower he forced the tears back down. _I promised it! No tears! Ever again! No tears! No crying! I'm not a girl!_

 _Nobody_ immediately sensed his change of mood. 

_It's gonna be fine, Draco. Whatever it is, it's gonna be fine._

Draco shook his head, his lips pressed together tightly. He rubbed his wrists together until the usually pale skin there turned bright red in order to stop the urge to cry. _Nobody_ gladly kept silent until it had worked and Draco was able to talk properly again. He thought about what to say and pointedly avoided anything that included Harry's name or that was as direct as: “there will be deaths this year.” Instead he opted for a sentence that he thought summed up the present situation pretty well: 

“This year will be a huge, grant mess and I can't do anything about it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all are well and safe during all this pandemic stuff. I’ll try to have the next chapter up ASAP but no promises <3 Love, as always, goes especially to everyone who comments!!!


	28. Accidents and Incidents

The first lesson of the year was Charms with the Gryffindors. As the students filed into the classroom Professor Flitwick was already waiting behind his desk, probably standing on a stack of books. Hermione attempted to pull her friends to the front but Harry and Ron struggled against her and the trio eventually settled for the third row. Harry happily took the middle seat in between the two Gryffindors and waited for the lesson to begin. The moment Flitwick cleared his throat a last student tumbled into the room. And of course it was Draco Malfoy. He didn't apologize, he just went to sit in the last free chair in the very back corner and Flitwick let it slide, simply pretending nothing had happened at all. Maybe because it was the first lesson of the year or maybe because he didn't want to take points from his own house as his first act of the year. Harry didn't know, neither did he really care about the answer. The question he was wondering about instead was, what had Malfoy been up to already? What could he have been doing? Because he was very certain he hadn't seen him at breakfast. While all of this Slytherin friends had been there. 

Harry was ripped from his thoughts when Flitwick instructed them to attempt the tickling charm on their partners. He paired up with Ron while Hermione was stuck with Padma Patil, whose Gryffindor counterpart was already giggling with her best friend Lavender even though neither of them had their wands out, yet. 

“You go first”,   
Harry said to Ron, hoping that the other boy has at least paid a little more attention than he had. 

His movements and pronounciation seemed confident enough but then the broken state of his wand messed up everything. Apparently fixing a wand wasn't as simple as wrapping it in obnoxious amounts of spellotape. A light purple streak shot from the point where it was snapped in half rather then from its tip and just about grazed Hermione's shoulder. The girl immediately started sobbing and tears were streaming down her face when she turned around to glare at the redhead. 

“Wh- what- t d-d-it you-u d-d-d-do to m-me?”,   
she was barely able to force the words out of her mouth. 

The other students had stopped doing their thing and curiously watched the scene. Harry could've sworn he heard Malfoy snicker from the back but did his best to ignore it. Finally Professor Flitwick approached them. 

“What is the problem over here?” 

Hermione opened her mouth to reply but Harry beat her to it, not willing to give _someone_ another reason to laugh at his friends. 

“Ron's wand is broken, professor. And as he attempted the charm it was off course and it accidentally hit Hermione and, well... you see what it did to her.” 

“Ah, yes.” 

Flitwick didn't elaborate so Harry came forward again. 

“Is there something you could do about it?” 

“I'm sorry but just as it is with every other charm, we will have to wait until it has worn off.” 

Seeing the concerned expression on his students' faces he added,   
“It won't take very long, I assure you! There is no reason to worry. Everybody, go back to practicing!” 

After the other students had complied Flitwick turned towards Ron. 

“Mr Weasley, this wand is not fit for any kind of spellwork anymore. I recommend writing to your parents and asking for a new one as soon as possible, we'd want to avoid any kind of serious injury, right? And in the meantime you'd better stick to theoretical practice, hm?” 

Ron's face had adapted the colour of tomatoes and he gave an embarrassed nod. Harry felt really sorry for his friend. He knew the Weasleys didn't have the money to buy Ron a new wand just like that. The one he had, hadn't even originally been bought for him but was also a hand-me-down version from one of his older brothers. Harry would immediately offer to give them the money but he knew it was pointless. They would never accept charity, even if Harry didn't mean it as such. 

“Um, Harry? Can-can we continue the practice - together?” 

Harry gave Padma, who had asked the question, a confused look. The girl just pointed at Ron and Hermione sitting next to each other, the former patting the latter's back. Of course, the two of them would have to sit out for a while.

”Yeah, sure.”

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

After that, in Draco's opinion, hilarious incident, Charms was over in a swish. As soon as the bell rang he was out of the classroom and rushing down towards the dungeons for potions. After all those weeks he was quite looking forward to brewing something again. He had always found it to be an exciting and likewise meditative praxis. 

What he hadn't considered in that moment was that they still had the subject in a joined class.   
With Hufflepuff.   
With _her_. 

When she entered the classroom, Draco was already seated in the front, it seemed like her eyes immediately found him. And – Merlin knows what made him do it – he stared right back, holding her gaze for an achingly long moment until her friend, the Abbott girl, pulled Langdorn along. 

“I can sit here, right?” 

Draco's head snapped around to face a skinny, dark blond Hufflepuff boy, who was almost too tall to be seen as a second year. Zacharias Smith. Pureblood. But with a family that had a long, long line of Hufflepuffs, which was why Draco had never exchanged a word with him before. And why he hadn't planned on doing so. 

Despite all that, what was he supposed to do? Send him away? With what reasoning? It wasn't like he desperately wanted someone else to sit next to him. Of course, it would be the most preferable to work alone but sadly Severus usually wanted them to work in pairs so that wasn't an option. Also, doing things his father would approve of somehow didn't have the same appeal anymore. Therefore, he gave a shrug and set up his parchment and quill while Smith took a seat to his left. 

The rest of the lesson passed without special events of any kind, it was almost boring as they started off with a bunch of theory first. 

After potions they had a double DADA with Lockhart. Draco really didn't get the hype about him. Yeah, fairly speaking the man was really handsome and his smile was dashing but apart from that the guy was just dull. What he wrote in his books was just as interesting as any special edition of the Witch Weekly's magazine and he sometimes literally nicked them from his mother to be able to fall asleep. How could a guy be so self absorbed that he started the class with a quiz about his personal pudding preferences and similar nonsense? Draco had been glad to find he hadn't been the only one rolling his eyes at Lockhart's comment of, “You should know, I was a Ravenclaw as well and now look where I am today!” As if Lockhart was a person to look up to. 

Sadly, there were still enough people in this class who were clinging to his lips like he was some sort of invincible sorcerer or something impressive like that. It was painful to watch. 

After that, the rest of the day went by in exactly the same manner as every other day at Hogwarts in the previous year. It was incredible how everything just slipped back into place as if there hadn't been weeks in between. Draco spent the meals with his friends at the Slytherin table, moaning and drawling about incapable teachers, annoying first years and “fucking Potter”. At one point during dinner he felt someone watching them and after a few seconds spotted the culprit at the Ravenclaw table. Loony Luna had him fixed with her curious gaze, her head tilted to the right and her whole body slightly moving up and down in a constant rhythm, indicating she was swinging her legs again. It was an adorable picture.   
_No, what the fuck!_  
How dare that filth stare at him like that? He glared back at her with as much loathing as he could muster before turning his attention back towards Pansy's shrill voice and pointedly avoided looking at the Ravenclaw table for the rest of the meal. By then everyone had, of course, already heard of the crazy stunt Harry and Weaslebee had pulled. Draco had heard a lot of things in his life but two minors flying a charmed muggle vehicle to school – that really was a new one. When Pansy had first mentioned it at lunch, Draco's stomach had lurched in horror. If something had happened to H- _them_ , it would've been his fault. He had hastily shoved the feeling of guilt as for down as somewhat possible before scowling and joining in on the conversation. _Why did he even care?_

Half an hour later he said his goodbyes to the Slytherins and started up the staircase that led to the west tower. He came to a halt in front of another one, at the top of which sat a little blond girl. Loony. Draco couldn't resist the urge to roll his eyes. 

“What do you think you’re doing, sitting in everyone's way?” 

Her gaze snapped up to him and he spotted something like fear in her pale blue eyes, but it seemed to ease away a bit at the sight of him. 

“Oh, it's you. The door is locked.” 

“The way to our common room is not through there.” 

“Oh. I thought it was.” 

“What's got you so scared anyway? Are you afraid of closed doors? Pathetic.” 

Draco ignored the in fact very scary memory involving a locked door from about exactly a year ago that came up at that. 

“It was one of the ghosts. The orange-y one. I told him he looked funny because I like funny things, but he didn't like that and he swooped right through me.” 

Her small body started shivering all over. 

“He's still around here. I feel it. His laugh is freaking me out.” 

That sounded a lot like Peeves. Draco considered her for a second. But helping little girls wasn't really his thing and even if he wanted to he wouldn't know how. 

“I'm going to bed.” 

And with that he made his way up to the Ravenclaw tower, slipping behind the tapestry next to the door and Loony scrambled up to follow him. Thinking back on it, he probably did do the best he could to help her, as he had showed her the right way to the common room. When they arrived at the door knocker, the first year answered the riddle without thinking for even a second and Draco was surprised when the door actually opened. Maybe the too-dreamy-for-her-own-good girl actually did belong in Ravenclaw. They stepped into the busy room, a few people hanging about the windows to catch the last bit of sunlight with their books, but a large group was gathered around a tall girl with a light brown-reddish straight ponytail who was talking animatedly. 

“-be on Sunday morning, 8 AM on the Quidditch pitch. Thank you for your attention, I hope I will see a lot of your faces Sunday! That's it!” 

Draco peaked up as the crowd loosened and a soft chatter settled over the room from all sides. That must have been about the Quidditch tryouts. Seemed like he had plans for Sunday now. And he knew how to spend the afternoons leading up to it. He itched to get on his broom just at the thought of it. There was no way in hell he would let this opportunity slide. 

This night Draco dreamed of speed and height and wind rushing in his ears and the feeling of the snitch fitting perfectly in his hand.


	29. Graves and a Team

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m very sorry for the long wait. If you’ve been following what else I’ve been posting in the past few months, you’ll know I was a bit preoccupied. However, as soon as August comes to an end I will try to get back to some kind of a regular posting rhythm with this fic! 
> 
> Now, enjoy reading!

Harry was more than relieved when the first week of school was finally over with. He hadn't really done any schoolwork at all over the summer and now he had a bit of struggle to get back into the rhythm of it. But it was alright, both Hermione and Terry had already offered to help him catch up. But for priorities’ sake Harry's number one thought of the week hadn't been homework. It was the Quidditch tryouts on Saturday. All positions were open so everyone was free to choose which to try out for. Harry was pretty sure he either wanted to go for seeker or for chaser. He didn't really care actually but it would be cool to follow on his fathers legacy as one of the best chasers at Hogwarts ever. Seeker was his backup. He knew he'd have to go against Malfoy who had years of experience on him, but he was total crap at keeper and at the Weasley's the twins had always been the beaters in their little matches so he hadn't really had a chance to see if he would be good at that. 

After an early breakfast on Saturday morning, Ron and Harry were strolling across the grounds towards the Quidditch pitch. The Gryffindor had insisted on watching the try outs as soon as Harry had mentioned it. He had tried to convince Hermione to join him, but apparently she wanted to get a headstart on studying. They had tried to tell her that she couldn't possibly have anything to study for on the first weekend of the year but she wouldn't have any of it. Therefore it was just the two of them. 

“Hey, Ron! You think you'll try out for the Gryffindor team this year?” 

“No, there's no free position this year.” 

“Oh, that sucks. I think all teams should do the tryouts like the Ravenclaw team. Every year for every position except the captain's. That's so much more fair, don't you think.” 

“Yeah.” 

“Hey, Harry!”  
They both groaned as they turned around. It was Colin Creevey. Of course it was. The little wanna-be photographer had been following him around all week, constantly asking for pictures and autographs and while that had been kinda cute in the beginning it was starting to become really annoying. 

“Not now Colin, I'm in a hurry.” 

“Enjoying your fame, Potter?”  
Draco smirked at him as he surpassed them in full Quidditch gear and with a sleek black-silver broom resting on his right shoulder. Harry was suddenly very aware of the fact that he was wearing an oversized jumper and sweatpants, passed down from his lovely cousin Dudley. Was proper Quidditch gear obligatory for the tryouts? 

“Woah, are you trying out for the Quidditch team, Harry? That's so cool! Can I take pictures of you flying?” 

“No, Colin, please don't. But you can watch of course. Just, don't distract anyone, okay?” 

“Sure thing, Harry!”  
And he tagged along. 

Upon their arrival, they split up. Ron and Colin were heading for the stands, the former who said goodbye to him with a death-glare, whilst Harry joined the crowd of players in the middle of the pitch. 

“Harry!”  
It was Cho Chang, waving him over. He gave her a wide smile. He hadn't had much of a chance to talk to her since the start of term. It was nice seeing her again.  
“I didn't knew you were trying out for the team!” 

“Yeah, haha. Well, I think I guessed I would see you here. You weren't exactly shy about your love for the Tornados.” 

“Yeah, I guess that's true. What position are you going for?” 

“I don't know. Either Chaser or Seeker probably.” 

Cho's face fell a tad and she looked like she was about to say something, but she got cut off before she was able to. 

“Ah, Harry! Following my path to fame, are you?”  
The hell was Lockhart doing here?! 

“Actually-” 

“I mean, it is common knowledge that the seeker is the most important and therefore most popular player of the team.” 

“Well-” 

“I have you know, I used to play Seeker for Ravenclaw as well. That is why I came here, to see if the team is still as great as it was back then, with me to hold it up and together!” 

The captain appeared on the pitch, levitating a large chest and a bunch of school brooms. Lockhart kept talking bullshit.  
“... but be careful to not let the fame get to your head, Harry. Do you hear me? Don't do any more drastic stunts like the one with the car just to get more of that incredible taste.” 

“I didn't-” 

“Stay on the ground with both feet Harry! Just like I did!” 

The captain cleared her throat aggressively.  
“Professor Lockhart! You are very welcome to watch the try outs but please clear the field and join the other spectators in the stands. Thank you, Professor.” 

Lockhart smiled at her so widely, it had to be painful.  
“Of course, of course, captain! The stage is yours!” 

He gave a last pretentious giggle, let his shiny teeth flash for a last time and whipped his lilac cloak through the air as he turned around to swagger off the pitch. In the centre of the crowd someone mumbled “finally” causing all of the players to laugh silently until the captain grasped their attention again.  
“Listen up, Ravenclaws! Okay, I think most of you were there for my announcement in the common room but for the record: My name is Darcy Graves, I'm in 6th, I play beater and I've been voted captain end of last year. First of all, we're going to warm up together so I can watch your flying. If your flying is crap, you're out. Then I'll split up into groups depending on the position you're trying out for. The try outs will be in style of a competition. If you can't deal with that, you're out. Got that?” 

There were general noises of agreement in their group and Darcy clapped her hands together.  
“Okay, let's go! For fairness reasons everyone will use one of the school brooms.” 

Some people started complaining and Harry was pretty sure Malfoy was one of them but the captain wouldn't have any of it.  
“No discussion! This is my team! My rules! If you can't deal with that I have no problem disqualifying you. I don't care how great you are, if you don't respect me you will only keep the team from forming a working unit! Does anyone still want to mope about it or can we start now?” 

The players stayed eerily silent.  
“Great. Everyone, grab a broom and get started. Ten laps, set off on my whistle, when you're done come back here and wait for the rest. Got that?” 

Again there was a mumble of agreement. 

“Well, what are you waiting for?” 

The whole group slowly set into motion. When Harry held one of the broomsticks tightly grasped in his right hand, excitement and nervosity set in at the same time. His heart rate sped up, it was like adrenaline was flooding his body and replacing the blood in his veins. He was totally focused on the wood in his palm and the ground under his feet. Cho, next to him, was rambling something he didn't quite gather as he threw one leg over the broom and bent his knees a little, ready to set off. And then the whistle blew and he was in the air instantly and it felt so good, so right and he loved being there. 

For the first few rounds he just let his muscle memory do all the work and enjoyed the sharp wind in his hair and on his face. Then someone brushed his shoulder and leg while flying past him and somehow flicked on a switch in Harry's conscience that he hadn't known was there before. Instead of everything whirring past him in blurs in his ecstasy, everything was now clearer than ever. He could sense all the things that were happening around him. Including the other players. Which made him aware that he was by far not leading the race. There were at least five or six in front of him, two of them being Cho and Malfoy.  
That sparked a feeling he knew he had but that didn't flare up very often. The urge to be the best. Ambition. 

From that point on he put everything he had into speeding up. The broom was no longer a means to his ends. It became a part of him. His mind could reign over it as if it was physically connected to his muscles. He surpassed a boy who was probably in fourth or fifth year, then he surpassed Cho. He finished lap number six close behind a brunette girl. It took him one more whole round to get past her as well but she caught up to him again. He pulled the broom closer to his chest, lying completely flat on top of it. She mirrored him. For a moment it looked like she would fall behind again but no such luck. The two of them slowly came closer to another player. Harry spared him a small glance before looking ahead again. It was Malfoy. 

A new wave of energy took over his body, entirely sparked by the thought of what Malfoy's face would look like if Harry finished before him. The brunette girl was soon out of his field of vision and he was now so close behind Malfoy, he was sure he'd be able to touch the tail of his broom if he stretched out his arm in front of him. 

He had just finished that thought when Malfoy suddenly swerved left. Harry was confused at first but two seconds later followed sue hastily. Apparently, in the heat of the competition, he had forgotten to count the rest of his laps. In the center of the pitch he finally set down. He looked at Malfoy, expecting him to use that opportunity to mock him but the other boy wasn't even acknowledging him. Instead he angrily glared at the only player who had already been waiting there. It was a relatively short but clearly muscular guy who was currently putting his long, ruffled, wavy black hair back into a bun, revealing an undercut. He was good looking. A strong jawline, a small nose and dark eyes which were covered by eyelids that Harry was pretty sure were typical for people with Japanese ancestry.

“Wow, Harry! I didn't know you were this fast!”  
Cho ran up behind Harry, ripping him from his thoughts. 

“Uh, thanks.” 

“Have you decided what position you want, yet?” 

Something about her voice was weird. Harry searched the stands for Ron and found him looking very uncomfortable between Colin and Lockhart. _I'd much rather carry on my father's legacy than his!_ , he thought to himself.  
“I'll go for chaser, I guess.” 

Cho let out a breath and smiled at him. “That's my backup. I really want to get seeker but apparently half the people here want the same thing.” 

“Oh. Well, you have good chances, though. You were one of the fastest, right?” 

“Yeah, I hope so.” 

The last two players landed next to the crowd and Darcy clapped her hands again, calling for silence.  
“Okay, everyone! I'm sorry, but you four”, she pointed at the two that finished last and two other guys, “you're out. Keep training and come back next year.” 

The group of people she had just pointed at left the pitch, their heads hanging. 

“Now, I want the rest of you to stand in groups, depending on which position you're trying out for.”  
She named the positions while pointing in a different direction each and the players did as told. Truthful to Cho's word the majority grouped in the seekers’ corner. No one went for beater. The captain pulled her eyebrows together at that, but moved on fast. 

“Okay, we’ll fix that later. Seekers you'll start. Easy task: I'll let off one snitch, whoever catches it has the position. If you don't win, feel free to try out for something else.”  
Without another word she opened the chest and took out the tiny, golden ball. It stretched it's wings, she let go and it went off. When it had disappeared from sight she blew a whistle and seven teenagers on brooms were in the air. 

Fast forward, fifteen minutes later Draco Malfoy came back down, his right fist clasped around the snitch and triumphantly raised into the air. His smirk was wider than ever. Cho was wearing an angry frown when she joined Harry in the bunch of wanna-be chasers. 

“Okay, keepers and chasers, easy game! I'll make two teams, you play a match, I'll switch out keepers every now and then. 30 minutes, then I'll choose the winners.” 

Harry and Cho were on the same team and the first keeper they had to go against was Anthony Goldstein. Harry felt almost sorry for him. He let in a lot of goals. Harry himself scored twice but to make it up he purposefully screwed up once or twice afterwards. He didn't want sports to ruin his friendly relationship with his roommates. Cho, on the contrary, kept scoring and scoring and each of her passes was harsh and backed up by a lot of power. She seemed to be driven by pent up anger from the Seekers’ game. 

Then, Graves switched keepers and the brunette girl Harry had raced during the warm up was now up. He didn't get a single Quaffle in after that. Cho did, once, but Merlin, that girl was good! Harry wasn't surprised when, after the time was up, she got keeper. Cho finally got her cheer and excitement back when she was chosen for chaser along with that good looking guy with the undercut, Calum Williams, who, Harry was pretty sure, had played the same position the year before. The final member of the chaser trio was Luke Chambers. Harry was so happy for Cho that he almost forgot to be disappointed about not getting in himself. 

“Harry Potter!”  
It was the captain. 

“Yeah?” 

“C'mere.” 

Harry walked over to her with his throat closing up. When he stood in front of her she looked him up and down. Then she opened up the chest again and pulled out one of the beaters clubs. 

“It would be a waste to not have your natural flying skills on the team.”  
She turned back to the dissolving crowd. Apparently there was really no one who wanted to be beater. 

“You and me, one bludger. What do you say? Willing to give it a try?” 

“Okay.” 

And that's how Harry became the new Ravenclaw beater without even having considered it before. 

“That was crazy! Each of your hits was so precise! Why didn't you tell me you were so good at that?” 

“I didn't know!” 

“Man, I can't wait to see Fred and George's faces when they see you play for the first time!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Much love to everyone who has been patiently waiting for an update and generally to everyone who keeps supporting me <3
> 
> PS: comments make my day!


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